Nobelium II MASTER FINAL

Meet the Team Letter from the Editor Editor in Chief Dear Readers, Lev Sandler The Nobelium staff truly appreciates your taking the time to read the magazine. Before I give a preview as to Content Manager what this issue will contain, I would first like to recognize and thank our dedicated staff of writers, editors and layout Julia Lyne designers who made this volume possible. Additionally, we would like to express our gratitude to the Nobles STEM Co-Chairs of Layout departments who supported us throughout the endeavour. A special note of thanks to our amazing faculty advisor, Clara Guzman and Lindsey Qian Ms. Tonge, who has helped us tremendously during the entire process. Editors of Biology This issue features some of the forgotten facesSarah Mansour and Emily St. John in science. Since the dawn of modern science, there have been researchers and scientists who revolutionized Editor of Chemistry their respective fields without due credit. While their breakthroughs reshaped our understanding of many Liam Smith STEM fields, this group of individuals – predominantly female – unfortunately remain unrecognized by the Editor of Psychology public. In some cases, praise for discoveries was assigned incorrectly, with prominent male scientists taking credit Michaela Sylvia for the groundbreaking findings of their female colleagues. Editor of Computer Science Three of our writers are giving some of these overlooked scientists the recognition they deserve. Talia Kee Meghan Pauly has written about Nettie Stevens and her contributions to the study of chromosomes, Caroline Editor of Physics Kinghorn has written about Rosalind Franklin’s discovery of the structure of DNA, and Jennifer Do-Dai has Clara Lawry written about Henrietta Swan Leavitt’s advancement of astrological techniques. We hope that you enjoy readingstaff writers about these unacclaimed figures and the way they shaped our approach to science. Chase Cronin Liam Nawara Jennifer Do-Dai Meghan Pauly As we dedicate this issue to scientists who have Wyatt Ellison Lindsey Qian changed our lives forever, the Nobelium staff still deeply Hannah Epstein mourns the loss of our cofounder and true friend Jane Adam Qu Song. Anyone who knew Jane knew how thoughtful, Maddy King Susan Rowley intelligent, and caring she was. It is a sincere honor andCaroline Kinghorn Michaela Sylvia privilege to have worked with Jane, and to call her a close friend. A year after her passing, the Nobelium Staff still Clara Lawry Vivian Tao feels her presence deeply and uses the ideas she established Sarah Mansour to shape the magazine to this day.Layout Staff We hope you enjoy, Lev Sandler Co-founder Editor-in-ChiefMeghan PaulyWyatt EllisonMatt Cullinane Facing image: A serotonin crystal viewed under a microscope. Credit: Popular Science

ContentsFeatures 4 The True Story of Rosalind Franklin By Caroline Kinghorn 6 Henrietta Swan Leavitt By Jennifer Do-Dai 7 Forgotten Scientist Nettie Stevens By Meghan PaulyBiology 8 Runner’s High By Adam Qu 10 Heroin By Susan Rowley 12 Microneedle Patch Flu Shot By Sarah MansourChemistry 14 Element 102: Nobelium By Wyatt Ellison 15 Microplastic in Sea Salt By Vivian TaoPsychology 16 The Abuser-Victim Relationship Computer By Anushka Harve Science 18 Can Serial Killers Be Cured? Physics By Michaela Sylvia 19 Artificial “Skin” Gives Robots Sense of Touch By Hannah Epstein 20 What’s Your Number? By Lindsey Qian 22 The Future of Unmanned Vehicles By Liam Nawara 24 Nobel Prize in Physics By Clara Lawry 25 Absolute Zero By Chase Cronin 26 The Future of Teleportation By Maddy King

The True Story of Rosalind FranklinBy Caroline Kinghorn | Edited by Julia Lyne Have you ever had someone steal your answer In 1951, Franklin took a job as a research assistantto a question or repeat a joke you have already told? We at King’s College to study DNA. Franklin quicklyall know it’s a terrible feeling when someone else gets upgraded the x-ray lab, and used the technique ofcredit for your work. Even if the work took seconds or x-ray crystallography to create images of DNA. Duringminutes to do, the disappointment lasts. Now, multiply her time as a prominent scientist, there was immensethis momentary disappointment by an entire lifetime’s sexism present in the scientific laboratories where shework, and you might have the slightest insight into the worked. This sexism resulted in Franklin clashing withstory of Rosalind Franklin. some of her fellow researchers, specifically Maurice Wilkins. Wilkins wrongfully viewed Franklin as his In 1920, Rosalind Franklin was born in London, assistant, and this resulted in major conflict betweenEngland. From a young age, she excelled in science; the two ‘partners.’despite familial discouragement she opted to pursuethis passion throughout her life. She earned a Ph.D. in In 1952, Franklin captured Photo 51, the mostPhysical Chemistry from Cambridge University. After famous x-ray image of DNA, which took over 100graduating, Franklin focussed on conducting research hours to produce. It would take a year for Franklinon the structure of coal and helped create more effective to complete the necessary calculations to accuratelygas masks for the British forces during World War II. analyze the image. Concurrently, a biologist, JamesThis was only the first of Franklin’s many scientific Watson and his physicist partner Francis Crick, werecontributions. Franklin was a prolific researcher, and working on findin,g the structure of DNA. One day,published five scientific papers before reaching the Watson and Crick visited Franklin’s lab and sawage of 26 years old. In 1946, Franklin worked in Paris Photo 51. They interpreted the data the same waywith the crystallographer Jacques Mering. Mering Franklin had; DNA was a double helix. However, totaught Franklin about x-ray diffraction, a method of publish a paper about the double helix, Watson andusing x-rays to create images of crystallized solids, Crick needed Franklin’s specific numbers and datawhich she later utilized in her studies of biological that she obtained while studying Photo 51. A simplematter, specifically, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). glance wasn’t enough to come up with a detailed4 Nobelium Magazine • Winter 2017-18

structure; they needed the calculations to arrive at thecorrect conclusion. Fortunately for Watson and Crick,Franklin accidentally shared her data with them. Shegave a short presentation to the head of the Cambridgelaboratories; Watson and Crick both worked atCambridge University. Franklin’s numbers were passedto Watson and Crick without her knowledge. Watsonand Crick expedited their analysis of Franklin’s databy predicting and building a few potential structures.Eventually, Watson and Crick arrived at the correctstructure. They discovered that DNA is made of two helicalstrands, one opposite the other, and held together bybonds between the bases at the center like the rungs ofa ladder. In April of 1953, Watson and Crick publishedtheir findings to the scientific journal, Nature. After structure, and Franklin’s work was viewed simply asfinishing her calculations, Franklin came to the same a confirmation of the men’s research. Franklin turnedconclusion and also submitted her manuscript to the her efforts towards studies pertaining to viruses.journal. The journal published both manuscripts; Ultimately, Franklin died of cancer in 1958, likely ahowever, they placed Franklin’s findings last, giving off result of her countless hours spent working with x-raythe appearance of being only a supporting argument machines, never knowing that Watson and Crick hadto Watson and Crick’s conclusions (instead of a source stolen her data pertaining to the photograph. In 1962,of major inspiration). Therefore, Watson and Crick Watson, Crick, and Wilkins won the nobel prize for theirwere alone credited with the discovery of DNA’s work on DNA. Although Franklin was later recognized for her work on creating Photo 51, posthumous nobel prizes cannot be awarded. Furthermore, her work on the structure of viruses led to a nobel for her colleague, Aaron Klug, in 1982. Franklin dedicated her life to science, yet never personally received any tangible acknowledgement for her work. Rosalind Franklin’s discoveries about the double-helix structure of DNA continue to be significant in current biological studies; Franklin is undoubtedly an unsung hero and hidden figure in science. Franklin was a precise, dedicated, and motivated scientist who deserves to be recognized for her role and effect on past, present, and future biological studies. In conclusion, don’t ever be the person who steals someone else’s answer or joke, credit should always be given where it is due.Feature Articles: Influential Female Scientists in History 5

Henrietta Swan Leavitt By Jennifer Do-Dai | Edited by Lev Sandler In 1908, Henrietta Swan from Earth. However, Pickering published this workLeavitt made a groundbreaking under his name, instead of Leavitt’s and only stateddiscovery in the field of astronomy; that Leavitt “prepared the work.” (Howell)yet, it was not until years after herdeath in 1921 that biographies began It was not until after her death that sheto credit her for a discovery essential would be acknowledged for her work:to future astronomical discoveries. Gösta Mittag-Leffler of the SwedishLeavitt was born on July 4, 1868 in Academy of Sciences attempted to nominateLancaster, Massachusetts. Leavittattended the Harvard Annex, more Leavitt for a Nobel Prize.commonly known as RadcliffeCollege. Leavitt graduated with a Unfortunately, Nobel Prizes cannot beBachelor of Arts in mathematics awarded posthumously. Leavitt had died of stomachand astronomy. Her interest in cancer three years earlier.astronomy led to her volunteering atHarvard’s observatory as a research Another astronomer, Edwin Hubble, would useassistant where she analyzed star Leavitt’s work to measure the distance from Earth tobrightness. When her father moved the nearest galaxy, the Andromeda galaxy. Hubble alsoto Wisconsin, she found a job at a learned that the universe was expanding. Additionally,liberal arts college there. Harlow Shapley used her work to measure around the Milky Way but also did not credit Leavitt. “The woman Many years later, Leavitt worked as a computer, who discovered how to measure the universe,” (Norton,which is a person who performs mathematical 2006) Henrietta Swan Leavitt, was an astronomer whocalculations, under Edward Pickering, the director of received no credit for her discoveries essential to thethe observatory at Harvard. Pickering offered her a job field of astronomy.when she asked him for her laboratory journals so shecould finish her work. The job paid 30 cents an hour,which was a high wage at the time, considering theaverage was 10 dollars a week. It was during her time at the Harvardobservatory that she made a discovery that wouldenable astronomers to find several revolutionaryconcepts. Leavitt discovered the Period-Luminosityrelation, which enables astronomers to calculate thedistance a Cepheid star (a star that constantly variesin temperature and diameter) is away from earth if theextrinsic brightness, where a difference in brightness iscaused by external processes, and interior brightness,where a change in brightness is caused within thestar, is known. A cepheid star is a star which pulsesperiodically based on their intrinsic luminosity. Theextrinsic brightness of a star is easily calculated, butchanges based on location. On the other hand, a star’sintrinsic brightness is more difficult to calculate. Thismeans Leavitt had discovered a way to calculate boththe intrinsic luminosity of a star as well as its distance6 Nobelium Magazine • Winter 2017-18

Written by Meghan Pauly | Edited by Lev SandlerForgotten Scientist: Nettie Stevens“She [Nettie Stevens] was a trained expert in the modern sense—in the sense in which biology has ceased to be a playground for the amateur and a plaything for the mystic.” - Thomas Hunt The name of one of the most influential and of an offspring isrevolutionary scientists in the biological world remainsomitted from textbooks and continues to be unknown determined by theto many geneticists today. Nettie Stevens, born onJuly 7, 1861 in Cavendish, Vermont attended school presence or lack ofin Massachusetts where she discovered her aptitudefor biology. Stevens attended Stanford University a Y chromosomewhere she graduated with the highest marks and aBachelors and Masters degree in biology after only in an organism’stwo years. Stevens continued her studies at Bryn MawrCollege where she received her Ph.D and was offered genome. Thisa fellowship to study at the Zoological Institute inWürzburg, Germany. Afterwards, Stevens returned groundbreakingto the United States to occupy a part-time researchposition at the Carnegie Institute. discovery became Her studies of chromosomal heredity, embryology, known as the XY and genetics led to her discovery of a genetic pattern determination known as the XY sex-determination system. system. Before Stevens’s discovery in 1905, scientistsscrambled to pinpoint the connection between Gregor A fewMendel’s rules of heredity genetics and the sex of anoffspring. By observing the chromosomes present in years prior inmealworm beetles, Stevens was able to ascertain that sexis determined by different chromosomes, rather than 1900, a manexternal factors after fertilization (which at the timewas the common belief about how sex was determined). named EdmundShe observed that one chromosome present in malebeetles was noticeably smaller than its corresponding Beecher Wilsonchromosome in the female genome. Stevens tracedthis observation back to a differentiation she noticed published ain certain male sperm cells. While some sperm cellscontained somewhat uniformly large chromosomes similar paper.(which she named X chromosomes), other containedsignificantly smaller ones (Y chromosomes). These Steven’s paper in 1903 filled the holes in Wilson’sdiscoveries were outlined in Nettie Stevens’s publishedpaper in 1903, supporting her discovery–that the sex paper and corrected his flawed theories, making her the scientist who discovered the XY determination system. However, after the publishing of Stevens’s paper, Wilson thanked her for helping him determine the connection between Mendel’s rules of hereditary and an organism’s sex. Since then, Stevens has been known as Wilson’s assistant, which ended in Wilson taking the sole credit for her scientific discovery. E.B Wilson was given the Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal by the National Academy of Sciences in 1925 for his novel The Cell in Development and Inheritance, which was published in 1900 and therefore included insufficient and slightly inaccurate information about chromosomes. Wilson was also given the honor of having an annual award named after him. The awardis presented to the scientist who has contributed the most to biology within that year. In the shadow of Wilson’s recognition, Nettie Stevens achieved no awards or honors and died of breast cancer on May 4th, 1912.Feature Articles: Influential Female Scientists in History 7

By Adam QuRunner’s HighEditedbySarahMansour “Then for no reason at all, I felt magnificent. It was as though my body until that instant had simply been lazy as though the aches andexhaustion were all imagined, created from nothing in order to keep me fromtruly exerting myself. Now my body seemed at last to say, “Well, if you must have it, here!” and an accession of strength came flooding through me. Buoyed up, I forgot my usual feeling of routine self pity when working out, I lost myself, oppressed mind along with aching body; all entanglements were shed, I broke into the clear.” John Knowles, A Separate Peace This passage from A Separate Peace, by the body that helps relieve pain, in the bloodstreamJohn Knowles, perfectly captures the short-term increased after prolonged exercise (NY Times).feeling of euphoria experienced by many during This explanation makes sense, as physical exerciseor after long-term, rhythmic physical activities, can cause pain and discomfort and the endorphinslike running. This sensation, commonly known as could relieve that pain. However, the problem withrunner’s high, has been described as the “feeling of this reasoning is the size of endorphins, which arebeing invincible, a reduced state of discomfort or too big to pass through the blood-brain barrier,pain, and even a loss in sense of time” (WebMD). a highly selective membrane that prevents most blood-borne substances from entering the brain Overtime, the cause of runner’s high has (SciShow). It is reasonable to conclude from thisundergone some debate and revision. A study fact that endorphins most likely do not cause theconducted in the 1980s found that the level of euphoric feelings associated with runner’s highendorphins, a morphine-like chemical produced by8 Nobelium Magazine • Winter 2017-18

since they cannot interact with the brain, where given drugs to block endorphins from binding tothese feelings would originate. Additionally, receptors but they still acted calmer than micesome studies have chemically blocked the effects who had not run. Other mice who had run thatof endorphins but the subjects (mice) still had anandamide blocked instead were as sensitive and agitated by the hot plate as non-runnersexperienced a high (WebMD). “Researchers now believe that runner’s high is caused by a type of neurotransmitterin the brain called an endocannabinoid.” Researchers now believe that runner’s high (Mice). Studies with humans have also foundis caused by a type of neurotransmitter in the brain increased endocannabinoid levels after running,called an endocannabinoid. Endocannabinoids but the small sample sizes of these studies make itinteract with the same systems of the brain as uncertain that endocannabinoids are the definitecompounds in the drug cannabis, or marijuana, reason for a runner’s high (SciShow).but are made naturally by the body. In 2015, astudy conducted at the Central Institute of Mental While the biological cause for a high isHealth at the University of Heidelberg medical still not completely established, there has beenschool in Mannheim, Germany, showed that mice agreement on the way to obtain it. Getting aproduced increased amounts of anandamide, runner’s high doesn’t necessarily have to bea type of endocannabinoid, after running on a through running. Many non-runner athletes havewheel compared to those that did not (SciShow). experienced a high from other activities such asTo test the pain relief of runner’s high, the mice swimming, rowing, cycling, and weightlifting.were placed on a hot plate to cause pain. Mice These athletics all have something in common:who had been running on the wheels took longer repetition. Another factor in achieving a high isto show signs of agitation from the heat, such as time; continued exercise for 30 minutes or more“licking hind paws or jumping” (Mice). To ensure increase the chances of attaining a high (WebMD).that endorphins were not playing a role in the Whether or not a high is achieved, however, theremice’s response, some of the running mice were is no doubt about the long-term health benefits of regular exercise. Biology 9

By Susan Rowley that trigger neurological responses by binding to Edited by Emily St. John receptors, leading to a chemical imbalance in the brain. This chemical imbalance manifests itself a The world’s deadliest drug is heroin, an phenomenon known as withdrawal. Symptomsopiate made from modifying morphine which is of withdrawal include irritability, muscle pain,extracted from poppy seeds. Heroin usage and excessive hunger, and seizures.overdoses have become increasingly widespreadduring recent years, causing economic, social In the short term, heroin can trigger a senseand health issues around the globe. Morphine of elation, as well as dry mouth, warm skin, heavyand other opioids are also common in many limbs, nausea and vomiting, reduced cognitiveprescription painkillers such as OxyContin and function, and being relegated to a state betweenVicodin. There is a direct correlation between use consciousness and semi-consciousness. Long termof these prescription drugs and heroin addiction; heroin use can cause insomnia, collapsed veinsas 80% of people who use heroin previously used due to excessive injections, damaged nose tissueor misused prescription drugs. Morphine’s highly as a result of snorting, infected heart lining, liveraddictive qualities makes it extremely difficult for and kidney disease, and more.users to quit the drug, creating an epidemic ofheroin usage in the US. In 2016 the UN Office on Drugs and Crime reported than heroin usage was at its highest Once heroin enters the bloodstream, it level in 20 years (Science Daily). Furthermore,travels into the brain and attaches itself onto the number of young adults, classified as agesopioid receptors. Specifically, heroin binds to 18-25, using heroin has doubled in the last 10receptors that are involved with experiencing pain years (Science Daily). As the number of users hasand pleasure as well as receptors that control heart increased, so has the number of heroin overdoserate, sleeping, and breathing. The Mesolimbic deaths, which has more than tripled since 2002Reward System is a pathway in the midbrain (Science Daily). During an overdose, there are toothat releases dopamine, a chemical responsible many morphine endorphins in the blood stream.for feelings of intense pleasure, when it comes Morphine, on a small scale, inhibits neurons frominto contact with an opioid. After feeling the properly firing, but during an overdose the user’seuphoric release of dopamine, the brain becomes breathing can slow to a deadly pace or even stopdependent on heroin once the brain has adapted altogether. Blood is then unable to get to the brainor changed its structure. For example, when a and other tissues, known as hypoxia. If a personheroin addict does not take heroin, the brain with a suspected overdose is caught, doctors orstarts to send out neurotransmitters, molecules emergency personnel sometimes may administer Naloxone, a drug that works by binding to opioid receptors in the brain and blocking the function of10 Nobelium Magazine • Winter 2017-18

heroin; however, it is not always successful. main contributors to societal costs were the loss In addition to the cost of using heroin of work or lost productivity at work and Hepatitis C treatments, which accounted for 50% of theon the body of the user, there is also a massive societal costs.economic cost placed on society by heroin users.Pharmaeconomists at the University of Illinois Researchers then compared the societal costChicago (UIC) designed an experiment to ascertain of heroin use disorder to other chronic conditionsthe societal cost of heroin use disorder. The such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disorderresearchers used a cost-analysis model hinging (COPD) and diabetes. The cost to society peron multiple variables: the cost of imprisoned COPD person was calculated to cost approximately $2,567 and diabetes was estimated to cost $11,148 per person. These comparisons show how much more detrimental heroin usage is to the national economy. The study was also designed to get the attention of politicians and policymakers and to provide figures about heroin use. Hopefully, after seeing these numbers, the government will make a major investment in health care and work to change public health policies in order to stop the continued rise in heroin use.users, withdrawal treatment and rehabilitationcosts, costs associated with hospitalization andconsequent treatment of diseases contracted viaheroin use (HIV, Hepatitis B and C, tuberculosis),the cost of treating infants born with a heroinaddiction, the lack of work or productivity fromusers, and costs associated with overdose deaths.The lost productivity at work can be attributed totime away at hospitals and treatment facilities, oran early death because of an overdose. Using these variables, the societal costper heroin user was $50,799 in 2015. Whenmultiplied by the approximately one millionusers in the United States, the societal cost isapproximately$51.2 billion. The main contributorto this cost was incarceration. The cost perincarcerated heroin user was $74,428 whereas thecost per free heroin user was only $44,950. Other Biology 11

Microneedle Flu Shot Written by Sarah Mansour Edited by Emily St. John A ainless flu atc ma e u o tiny microneedles might be the next step in disease vaccination. Do you dread having to get flu shots? This phobia is one that plagues many people worldwide, and finally there is a solution: the microneedle patch flu shot. Fear and inaccessibility of the flu shot are two of the major reasons that have led the flu vaccination rate in the US to be only 40% (Georgia Tech). Rather than the traditional method of having a single needle injected into a major muscle, a new method of delivering vaccines has been developed through a study run by Roderic Pettigrew, the director of the NIH’s National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB). The microneedle patch contains hundreds of very small needles, made up of polyvinyl alcohol, sugar, and the flu vaccine itself. Once administered, the water soluble needles dissolve, allowing the vaccine to enter into the bloodstream. Unlike the intramuscular injection which is inserted all the way into the muscle, the patch simply penetrates the top layer of the skin. The size of the needles, which can be compared to the size of a hair, make the vaccine almost entirely painless. Now, this may sound like a perfect solution, but it raises a question, is the patch just as effective in preventing the flu shot as the typical, intramuscular injection? In order to evaluate the efficacy of this new patch, a study involving 100 participants was conducted by Georgia University of Technology and Emory University. 50 participants were administered the patch flu shot while 50 of the participants were given the intramuscular injection. Both forms of vaccination yielded very similar results. Antibody response, or immune response, was the same for both vaccines, showing that the patch was equally as effective in preventing the flu as the intramuscular injection. However, unlike the intramuscular injection, many participants who were administered the sticky patch reported redness and itching following the vaccine. Despite this, over 70% of participants who were administered the patch said they preferred this method to their normal intramuscular injection.12 Nobelium Magazine • Winter 2017-18

As well as providing a painless form of fluvaccination, this patch also creates a vaccine that caneasily be self-administered by patients. The patchdoes not require refrigeration; therefore, it can be soldat pharmacies and easily accessed by patients. It isexpected that the release of this patch would increasethe overall vaccination rate in the US. Whether toobusy or too lazy, Americans avoid getting flu shots.This vaccine can be self-administered at home asthe patients simply stick on the patch to administerthe vaccine and then discard it in the trash. Theconvenience of self-administration is appealing tomany, including Daisy Bourassa, a participant in theGeorgia Institute of Technology study mentionedabove: “The reason why [for] many years I didn’tget a shot is that I don’t have time to wait in a lineor whatever. It would be really awesome if I couldorder it and it would be delivered like Amazon Prime”(NBC). Researchers are working to make this vaccineas convenient as possible for patients in an attempt toincrease the current substandard vaccination rate. Asone of the creators Dr Nadine Rouphael, from EmoryUniversity, stated: “We could envisage vaccination athome, in the workplace or even via mail distribution”(BBC).“The size of the needle, which can be compared to the size of a hair, make the vaccine almost entirely painless.” The introduction of this vaccine could alsorevolutionize the way in which vaccines are distributedto developing countries. Because the vaccine does notrequire refrigeration and can stay at 40°C for up to ayear, it is easier and more cost effective to transportthan the intramuscular injection. Each year around theworld, 1.5 million children die of vaccine-preventableillnesses (Gates Foundation). A major contributingissue is a lack of medically trained professionals, whichthe self-administering vaccine effectively solves. Theflu vaccine is just the beginning of the extent of thistechnology’s power. Scientists are currently testing thepatch with other vaccines including measles, rubella,polio, Ebola, and even Zika. Biology 13

Element 102: NobeliumBEydWiteydabttyELlliiasmonSmithAbove: A birds-eye view of Stanford Linear Accelerator, which can be used to synthesize new elements. Elements are the building blocks of all The scientifically-accepted discovery ofmatter; everything from the graphite in your nobelium was produced one year later in 1958pencil to the food you eat is made up of atoms by bombarding a thin curium target (composedand molecules. Most occur naturally, but using of 95% curium-244 and 4.5% curium-246) withmore-modern technology, scientists are able to carbon-12 ions. Scientists in Berkeley conductedmake new elements using particle accelerators. An confirmatory experiments in 1966 to produceexample of this is Nobelium, a synthesized element 254No with a half-life of 55 seconds, 252No with 2.3first created in 1958 at the Lawrence Radiation second half-life, and 257No with a 23 second half-Laboratory in Berkeley, California. Named after life. Despite the name nobelium having been givenAlfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite and founder to element 102 by scientists who did not actuallyof the Nobel prize, element 102 was first claimed create it, the scientists at Berkeley decided to keepto be created in 1957 by bombarding curium-244 the name nobelium for element 102.with carbon-13 nuclei, and the result had a half-life of 10 minutes. “Using more modern technology, scientists are able to make new elements using particle accelerators.” The Commission on Atomic Weights of the Nobelium is in the actinide group of theInternational Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, periodic table, sitting in between Mendeleviuma global body responsible for determining and Lawrencium with an atomic mass of 259 amu.chemical terminology and nomenclature, accepted No-259 has a half-life of 58 minutes, the longestthe report of this experiment and gave the name of all its isotopes. Nobelium decays into fermiumNobelium to this new synthetic element. However, isotopes along with a release of energy and alphalater experiments by both Russian and American particles, two protons and two neutrons releasedscientists dismissed the report because of indefinite during alpha decay. Because nobelium is notalpha radiation results, which means inconsistent naturally-occurring, it does not appear anywherefindings of how many alpha particles (a particle biologically nor geologically. It exists as a solid atconsisting of two protons and two neutrons) were room temperature, with a melting point of 1100 K.emitted by the substance. While nobelium does not have a practical use in today’s scientific field of chemistry, the practice of synthesizing new elements is a huge leap forward for chemists located around the world. However, nobelium has one very important use to all of us here, and that is inspiring the name of our scientific magazine: Nobelium.14 Nobelium Magazine • Winter 2017-18

By Vivian Tao Edited by Liam SmithMicroplastic in Sea Salt Plastic is everywhere. Large pieces of plastic are and 21 unidentified particles (Tree Hugger). Althoughlittered every day, and many of them find their way into Karami’s study was the first time that microplasticsthe ocean. A 2015 study showed that 8 million tons of have been found in salt, it has not been the first timeplastic are dumped in the ocean every year (National that microplastic has been found in food; microplasticsGeographic). However, there is a more hidden enemy: have also shown up in the stomachs of animals,microplastics. Although microplastics are so small especially near the ocean, because many times animalsthat they are less than 5 millimeters in diameter, they ,such as fish and seabirds, mistake the small piecesare present throughout most of the ocean and can be of plastic for food. Although scientists agree that thedetrimental to an organism’s health if ingested. current amount of microplastic in the ocean and in the sea salt is not enough to pose a threat to human health, Most people don’t know about the issues the they also agree that if the amount of microplastics inplastic can cause for not only the marine wildlife, but the ocean keeps on increasing, it could be harmful toalso the problems it can pose for humans as well. As human health in the near future. However, there isplastic bottles and other large plastic pieces break down, some good news. People are starting to do somethingthey create microplastics. These tiny pieces of plastic about the increase in microplastics, and the increaseare also created and used by a variety of industries. of plastics in general. The effects of microplastic andAccording to a study done in 2014, 92% of the 5 trillion the overall amount of pollution in oceans have beenpieces of plastic in the sea are microplastics particles so substantial that these issues have started to receive(Marcus Eriksen et al., 2014 study). That is 4.6 trillion global recognition. For instance, in February of 2017,particles of microplastic in the oceans, and that number the United Nations encouraged companies to startis increasing. reducing microplastic use. Not only are microplastics being addressed internationally, they are also being Microplastics are so prevalent in the ocean that addressed in our own country. California, Connecticut,they can now be found in sea salt. A recent study done Oregon, Hawaii, and Washington have either bannedby the aquatic toxicologist Ali Karami and his team of the production and use of microplastics, or are in theresearchers from Universiti Putra Malaysia revealed process of banning microplastics. So, although thethat some brands of salt contain microplastics. In presence of microplastics are so abundant to the point2015, Ali Karami studied different brands of salt from that they have found their way into sea salt, people areAustralia, France, Iran, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, acting to decrease the microplastics in the ocean, andPortugal, and South Africa. They studied and counted working their way to a cleaner and healthier world.the amount of plastic particles larger than 0.149millimeters found in sea salt. Out of the seventeen brandsthat Karami’s team studied, sixteen of them containedmicroplastics, excluding the French brand. Across theboard, the salt contained 72 foreign particles whichconsisted of 30 microplastics, 17 pigments that mayhave previously been microplastics, 4 dust particles, Chemistry 15

the Abuser- Victim Relationship Written by Anushka Harve Edited by Michaela Sylvia James and Kim have considered themselves with concern for her friend’s safety, Elizabethto be high school sweethearts since the beginning researches in order to find an answer to herof sophomore year. It’s no surprise that the question. In doing so, she learns more about theyearbook committee already has them down as world of neuroscience, the complex way our minds“cutest couple” even though senior year hasn’t act, and what might cause a victim to stay in aneven begun. abusive relationship. But there’s a little trouble in paradise this Unfortunately, within many such troubledsummer, at least according to Kim’s best friend relationships, a trauma bond is first createdElizabeth. James has been slowly pulling Kim between the victim and the abuser (Psychologyaway from all of her friends. The rare moments Today). For example, every time Kim is hurt bythat she’s open to hanging out, she shows up with James, like when she finds out that he’s cheatingbruises on her neck from “tripping on the stairs”. on her, she goes into a state of pain and disbelief.The bubbly, “take-charge” social butterfly she Kim’s brain tries to rationalize James’ actions inused to be has turned into a reclusive, timid girl. an attempt to calm herself down, but she usuallyHer parents never see her anymore, and whenever ends up blaming herself. Once she has doneJames drops her off, his breath reeks of alcohol. this, she feels better, but is trauma bonded toRecently, James has even started having flings James. Trauma bonds are created by victims aswith other girls “on the side” that he doesn’t an attempt to normalize abusive behavior; this isclassify as “cheating”, for some reason- and Kim harmful because the victim then becomes unableknows about it. to differentiate between normal and abusive behavior, furthering the cycle of abuse. The problem is that Kim continues to stay in that toxic Kim also feels the need to stay with James because of another brain phenomenon relationship, and Elizabeth called cognitive dissonance (Psychology Today). can’t seem to understand why. Dissonance means “a tension or clash resulting from the combination of two unsuitable elements”Not only does Elizabeth find James annoying, (Oxford Dictionary). In the cheating example, Kimbut she views him as a danger to Kim. Filled has two conflicting thoughts in her mind. Either 1) James was entirely at fault, and deserves to be punished, or 2) James really didn’t mean it, and genuinely thought that what he did was not16 Nobelium Magazine • Winter 2017-18

“cheating”. In the battle between these two ideas, needs to realize that the relationship is abusive.#2 usually wins, and the conflict is resolved in She needs help, and it’s crucial that she receivesher mind. Kim feels much better, but this rationale it earlier than later. Kim is being unfairly hurt,causes her to believe she can make the and could possibly be in danger, so it’s Elizabeth’srelationship work. Conflict is resolved in her mind. duty as a friend to lend a hand. She does, and Kim eventually goes on to ditch James and become a A third neuroscience explanation for much better version of herself.why Kim stays with James is that she actuallyexperiences a rush of dopamine every time she’s Kim’s experience is hardlywith him (Psychology Today). Dopamine, dubbed unique; sadly, this phenomenonthe “addictive” chemical, is often discussed in of “staying with him/her” iscontext of substance abuse because every time more common than you think.an addict “gives in”, the brain releases a surge ofdopamine- and your body loves dopamine. This is One extreme, famous example is Stockholmone of the reasons why it’s so hard to quit smoking! Syndrome. The term was coined after a 1973 bank heist in Stockholm where the hostages showed Elizabeth also seeks answers through completely abnormal and positive inclinationspsychological research, which explores the way we toward their captor (BBC News). That caught theact based on our social surroundings. One theory attention of people all over the world as beingsuggests that victims stay with their abusers as something completely irrational, but small-scalea result of an evolutionary survival technique. versions of those victim-abuser relationshipsHumans used to live in hunter-gatherer societies happen right in your backyard.where women and children were often kidnappedby other tribes (Psychology Today). Perhaps the When you think you recognize an abusivereason Kim stays with James is because of a deep relationship, it’s crucial to reach out and get thewired response to being ‘captured’, where forming right help. The first step is understanding thea positive attitude to captors was the only way to problem and the context, yet there’s a lot more yousurvive. can do. One of the best things to do to help a victim get out of his/her situation is to prevent isolation. Similarly, Kim’s behavior could also be The reason why abusers or even those in authorityexplained using the concept of “resilience”. In can stay in power is by separating the victims frompsychology, resilience is “an individual’s ability to their friends, family, and livelihood. You shouldsuccessfully adapt to life tasks in the face of social help the victim build connections with people otherdisadvantage or highly adverse conditions.” That than their abuser! It’s also important to reach outincludes family or relationship problems, or even to their family, in case they can influence him/financial concerns (Wikipedia). In this case, Kim her a bit more. And of course, the obvious route isdevelops “resilience” to her situation by justifying to seek professional help, with the consent of theJames; this is her way of adapting to her life. victim in question if possible. It’s important andNow, Elizabeth knows that Kim is not stuck in preferable that he/she feel accepted and in controla never-ending abusive relationship; she just of their situation and solution; hopefully, this will help the victim to recognize the issue on their own and confidently end the relationship. Psychology 17

Can Serial Killers be Cured? By Michaela SylviaEdited by Emily St. John Charles Manson, Ted Bundy, and Jeffrey Staff at the Mendota Juvenile Treatment Center inDahmer… all three have one thing in common: they Wisconsin developed a new approach to the criminalare widely believed to be psychopathic serial killers. rehabilitation of psychopaths: The DecompressionBut what is a psychopath? Psychopathy, which shares Model. Instead of punishing the youth when theymany diagnostic criteria with antisocial personality did something wrong, staff at MJTC used positivedisorder, is a mental condition characterized by an reinforcement like candy bars and video games toinability to establish personal connections or feel reward them for good behavior. Since psychopathsemotion. Psychopaths have a tendency to be friendly generally do not feel remorse for bad actions, it isand charming on the surface, while being empty and often difficult for them to differentiate right frommanipulative on the interior, which can make them wrong. The hope was that this model would encouragedifficult to detect. The media often portrays serial good behavior by training the youth to associate goodkillers with psychopathic qualities, but not all serial behavior with rewards. It worked; youth treated atkillers are psychopaths. Likewise, not all psychopaths MJTC were 50% less likely to commit a violent crimeare killers. In fact, psychopathy affects about 1% of the than psychopathic youth not treated at MJTC (Yale).population (LiveScience). For reference, the percentageof people who suffer from peanut allergies is about Unfortunately, this does not mean that there0.6-1% (Peanut Institute). Nonetheless, it is estimated is a “cure” for psychopathy. It does mean, however,that psychopaths are twenty to twenty-five times more that there may be more potential treatment options forlikely to end up in prison than non-psychopaths, as psychopaths. But there’s a catch for convicted criminals:well as four to eight times more likely to return to many personality disorders, including psychopathy,violent behavior following release from prison (NCBI). are not considered mental illnesses under the law.These statistics provide insight into psychopaths’ often Consequently, psychopathic criminals are often deniedviolent behavior. proper treatment. The result? Clinicians are making little progress in the treatment of criminal psychopaths So what makes a psychopath? Psychologists and psychopathy is consistently trivialized in thehave debated for decades about whether psychopathy realm of mental illnesses. Many specialists believeis a direct result of one’s upbringing or solely a matter that a potential solution for criminal psychopathsof genetics. In 2012, Dr. Kent Kiehl of the University of is the development of programs for psychopathicMexico set out to answer this question. He discovered youth. These programs would aim to prevent youngthat the paralimbic system, i.e. the region of the psychopaths’ actions from spiraling into criminalbrain that processes emotions, is underdeveloped in behavior.psychopaths. In other words, psychopaths’ brains arefundamentally different from those of ordinary people.However, this discovery did not prevent researchers inWisconsin from embarking on a series of rehabilitativestudies on psychopathic youth.18 Nobelium Magazine • Winter 2017-18

Artifical “Skin” By Hannah Epstein Gives Robots Edited by Talia KeeSense of Touch Robots can finally feel the physical world! and less reliable than the new system. Yu arguesRecently, researchers from the University of Houston that “our [new] strategy has advantages for simplehave provided robots the sense of touch by developing fabrication, scalable manufacturing, high-densitya special artificial skin. This stretchy skin enables integration, large strain tolerance and low cost.” Inrobots to feel differences in temperature and pressure. other words, the new robotic skin is much better thanResearchers conducted a test that showed a robotic the older models.hand with this “skin” can sense the difference betweena glass full of hot water and a glass full of ice water. Many humans dream of co-existing with robots.In addition to feeling temperature and pressure, this Whether it is companionship, tasks, or knowledge,artificial skin can also translate computer signals into robots can better human life. Before artificial skinAmerican sign language by measuring the amount emerged, robots did not have the ability to senseof strain in a bent finger (NBC News). Using this their surroundings and feel the physical world. Theirinformation, the robot’s hand bends into the shape of interactions with humans and the physical worldthe letters in sign language. Clearly, this artificial skin posed potential threats as they did not know how tocan benefit many populations with various conditions, properly interact with physical objects. However, thiscircumstances, and needs. new artificial ‘skin’ allows robots to safely work with humans and perform tasks that require knowledge of The artificial skin is a rubbery, stretchable, the physical world (Livescience). The medical world willelectronic device (Science Daily). Scientists prepare also benefit from this technology as it will revolutionizethe skin using polydimethylsiloxane, a silicone-based biomedical devices such as health monitors, implants,polymer, and miniscule nanowires that are 1,000 times and human-machine interfaces. This technology willthinner than a human hair. The nanowires are used hopefully reduce the costs of medical devices andto transmit an electrical current. When heated to 140 increase their reliability.degrees Fahrenheit, the polymer melts into a rubber-like substance and is poured over the nanowires(Livescience). The resulting “skin” is flexible, but alsocan transmit information through electrical currentin the nanowires, like human skin can transmitinformation through the nervous system. CunjiangYu, the scientist who created the “skin” describes it as“a piece of rubber, but it has the function of a circuitand sensors.” Yu, Bill D. Cook, Hae-Jin Kim, KyoseungSim, Anish Thukral, and their team at the UH CullenCollege of Engineering have stated that this is “thefirst semiconductor in rubber composite format thatenables stretchability without any special mechanicalstructure.” In past projects, scientists have workedwith tough semiconductors and tried to incorporatethe semiconductors in a rubbery substance (ScienceDaily). This design requires a very complex mechanicalstructure. In addition, this method is more expensive Computer Science 19

WHAT’S YOUR NUMBER? Written by Lindsey Qian Edited by Lev Sandler What is the future of cybersecurity in an age of credit and corporations? In late September 2017, hackers breached major credit reporting company Equifax’s servers to gain access to thousands of terabytes of data. 145.5 million people were affected; nearly half of all adults in the US (CNN). In the aftermath of the attack, people were obviously concerned about what they had lost, if anything, and how they could keep their data safe. The main problem with the situation was that few people knew what exactly had been stolen, and how they could even protect themselves from such a nebulous concept as data and identity theft. Nowadays, servers like Google and Equifax process several petabytes (one petabyte is a million gigabytes) of data every day, and phones and search engines track our habits and interests to cater to our desires. What credit report companies such as Equifax store are credit card numbers and transactions, social security numbers, names, birthdates, ad- dresses, and driver’s license numbers, among other things. Their servers were a conglom- eration of critical identity data, the strings of numbers that make up one’s value on- line. It is not necessarily bad that such data is available and it’s not that Equifax shouldn’t have had that information, because all those numbers are a critical part in the workings of the economy and Equifax needed them to function correctly. The issue with Equifax20 Nobelium Magazine • Winter 2017-18

was their security, or the lack thereof. Equifax revealed that the software used to create their web apps, Apache Struts, had a data flaw that they were aware of for many months before the breach. Representatives for the site con- fessed that they had known about it and had a patch for the exploit, but never put it into practice. In fact, the cybersecurity branch of the US Department of Homeland Security had disclosed the vulnerability in March of 2017. The Struts flaw was one of many faults in Equifax’s defenses; they had pre- viously had major hackings in May 2016 and January 2017, with smaller data leaks in between (Wired). The company became aware of the breach on July 29th, but waited for several days to see if any further action happened. They contacted a consultation company, Mandiant, and discov- ered that several breaches had happened from March up until that point; the company then waited a month to tell consumers of the attack. The events of this past fall may have been due to gross negligence on Equifax’s part, but such events have happened often in the recent years. In the first half of 2017 alone, there was the ShadowBrokers attack, the spread of ransomware WannaCry, the Wikileaks CIA breach, and Cloudbleed data leakage (Wired). These attacks are not uncommon by any means, but it seems like compa- nies and consumers alike forget these events months or even weeks after they happen. Without being personally affected, it’s hard to care in the aftermath of these cyberattacks. The truth is that it is not convenient or beneficial for con- sumers to keep their credit and identity data completely seques- tered, and individuals will most likely never become fully aware of what goes on behind the scenes in massive servers. But as data stor- age becomes more advanced and complex and digital identities are tied more closely to people’s real lives, companies need to learn how to secure their sites and servers in order to protect their consumers. They need to face repercussions for their sloppy backend security, otherwise what happened with Equifax will invariably happen again, perhaps evenmore severely than before. Computer Science 21

The Future of Written by Liam Nawara Edited by Talia KeeUnmanned Vehicles Imagine a world where unmanned and act autonomously for 6 months at a timesubmarines map the world’s oceans and drones (Boeing.com, 2017). UUVs are already starting toadvance scientific research. This world is not far make advances in the fields of robotics. In June ofaway and is, in fact, just starting to arrive. This 2017, the Echo Voyager went underwater for theworld brings with it the hope of enabling scientists first time and proved that UUVs can operate onand researchers to achieve groundbreaking their own without human intervention (Boeing.discoveries. Two types of unmanned vehicles com, 2017). The Boeing Echo Voyager is part ofaiding in this revolution are UUVs and UAVs. UAV a transformation that will allow UUVs to, muchstands for unmanned aerial vehicle while a UUV like the drones in the sky today, revolutionizestands for unmanned underwater vehicle. A UAV, many fields of science and give researchers greatermore commonly called a drone, is an unmanned opportunities to better understand our world.aircraft that can operate with remote humancontroller, while a UUV is a type of robotic drone UUVs have the potential to allowthat can operate underwater without a human oceanographers to map out the world’s oceans andoperator (Auvac.org, 2017). explore the depths more easily and cheaply than before. More than 70% of the Earth is covered One of the most recent examples of a by oceans, yet, according to NOAA, the NationalUUV is the Boeing Echo Voyager. The Boeing Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration,Echo Voyager is a 51-foot unmanned underwater 95% of the world’s oceans and 99% of the ocean’svehicle that has the ability to stay underwater seafloors are unexplored (Mustain, 2017). UUVs22 Nobelium Magazine • Winter 2017-18

will enable oceanographers to observe and study UAVs for many different jobs, such as measuringthe ocean for longer periods of time. With only the thickness of ice and the temperature of thethe top 515 feet of the world’s oceans thoroughly ice. Two major advantages of UAVs are thatexplored, UUVs will allow for greater discovery they can stay in the air for 24 hours or more andof the depths of the ocean that have historically explore swaths of ocean ice in a way that would beonly been explored using expensive submersibles impossible without UAVs and that they can carry(Mustain, 2017). While UUVs will revolutionize heavy scientific instruments (Cho, 2017). UAVsoceanographic research, they are only part of this are also currently being used in other scientificrevolutionary new world of unmanned vehicles. projects to track whales and to map the spread of plant diseases. UAVs are currently enabling researchersto better understand the natural world. While The world of possibilities that is justUAVs have been around since the 20th century, starting to open up to scientists and researchers asthey have only become popular after 2010, when a result of the proliferation of unmanned vehiclesthe technology required to manufacture UAVs will lead to a greater understanding of our world.became affordable. By allowing scientists to get a For the first time scientists and researchers will bebird’s-eye-view without using expensive satellites, able to explore the depths of the ocean and viewUAVs have allowed researchers in many fields the surface of the planet from above affordablyto expand their work. For example, Christopher and easily. While there are still challenges toZappa, an associate research professor at the face before UUVs and UAVs become completelyLamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, is using integrated into their roles as research tools, theyUAVs to study the effects of climate change by will indisputably give us a greater understandingflying small UAVs over Arctic ice. Zappa uses his of our world. Computer Science 23

Nobel Prize in Physics By Clara Lawry Edited by Lev Sandler The Nobel Prize in physics for 2017 was of the universe, passed through the Earth. Therecently awarded in part to Rainer Weiss, a LIGO instruments wobbled, announcing thegraduate and retired professor of Massachusetts detection of the wave; scientists then confirmedInstitute of Technology (MIT), for “decisive that the interferometers had shifted by one-contributions to the LIGO detector and the ten-thousandth the diameter of a proton. Theobservation of gravitational waves.” Weiss distortion was the result of a gravitational wavecame up with the idea for the LIGO, or Laser created by the collision of two black holes 1.3 billionInterferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, years ago. This conclusion marked the first direct50 years ago and has been involved with the detection of a gravitational wave by an instrumentcreation, development and operation of it since on Earth and officially confirmed Albert Einstein’sthen. The LIGO consists of two four kilometer theory of general relativity almost exactly 100wide interferometers, one in Hanford, Washington years after it was first introduced. Simply stated,and the other in Livingston, Louisiana, 1,865 miles Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity statesapart. Operating simultaneously, the detectors that all observers of an event experience the lawsuse laser interferometry, a technique in which of physics in the same way. At the time, Einsteinlight waves are superimposed in order to extract assumed that his theory would never be provenspecific information, across a large expanse but are because he believed that gravitational waves wouldable to detect the smallest ripples in space-time, be nearly impossible to detect from Earth. Inwhich are caused by gravitational waves, ripples in addition, since this first breakthrough, the LIGOspatial gravitational pulls, from cataclysmic cosmic has been able to detect gravitational waves fromsources. Cataclysmic cosmic sources are collisions collisions of black holes 3 separate times.of massive spatial entities colliding, releasing largeamounts of energy in the form of gravitational Weiss, who received the prize in conjunctionwaves. The LIGO was designed and constructed with Kip. S. Thorne and Barry C. Barish, professorsby scientists and engineers from both California of physics at Caltech, stated that he “view[s]Institute of Technology (Caltech) and MIT, but the receiving this [award] as a sort of symbol of theLIGO Scientific Collaboration currently includes various other people who have worked on this.”more than 80 scientific institutions and is funded Their creation of and work on the LIGO haveby the U.S. National Science Foundation. added tremendous evidence of Einstein’s theory of relativity, a monumental contribution in the world On September 14, 2015, a gravitational of physics.wave, somewhat of a ripple from a different part24 Nobelium Magazine • Winter 2017-18

AbsoluteBy Chase Cronin ZeroEdited by Clara Lawry Most people refer to heat as how warm which is basically extracting the atoms with the mostsomething feels to them, but heat is actually the flow of energy in a gas cloud so that the ones that are leftenergy created by the movement of atoms, molecules, behind are the lowest in energy (Ketterle). This is doneand ions. The movement of these particles generates by using a magnetic trap, a system where two magneticwhat is known as heat energy and it is capable of being mirrors are placed opposite of each other so that thetransferred from one solid, liquid, or gas if there is a trapped particles occasionally bounce off the mirrorsdifference in temperature between two objects. All and try to escape the container. Only high energymatter contains heat energy as matter is made of particles can escape due to the strength of the magneticatoms, molecules, and ions which don’t stop moving. field generated by the mirrors (J. Pérez-Ríos & A. S.This raises questions about how little movement can Sanz). These processes used together at MIT broke thethere be in these particles and if it is possible for them world record for the coldest temperature ever recordedto not move at all. at half-a-billionth degree above absolute zero. Absolute zero is the theoretically coldest point The only problem with these methods and allat which matter can exist where the movement of other known methods is that there is no way for thesethe aforementioned small particle are miniscule and process to be able to extract all the energy out of anis marked on the Kelvin scale as 0K. (For reference, atom. Recently after a one hundred year debate it was0K is equivalent to -459.67°F (-273.15°C), about four finally determined by Lluís Masanes and Jonathantimes colder than dry ice which is typically -109.3°F). Oppenheim from the University College of LondonAbsolute zero is a state where there is no heat energy. that is impossible to reach absolute zero with a finiteThis has been difficult for scientists to achieve: how amount of time and resources. Using the quantumcan they get rid of all the heat energy inside of atoms, information theory which helped solve how much workmolecules, and ions? (energy) is needed for cooling something and how large the reservoir (the area for which the heat energy To cool a substance, the heat energy present is transferred to) for cooling must be, they proceededin one substance must be extracted and transferred to to discover that an infinite amount of work or infinitea different substance. One process that is sometimes reservoir is necessary (Masanes & Oppenheim).used is called laser cooling.Wolfgang Ketterle, a NobelPrize winner for physics who works at MIT, completed The process of totally removing all heat energyhis Nobel prize research using this technique. When an from particles is simply too difficult at this point inatom is hit with a laser photon, the atom will absorb time. Theoretically absolute zero can be achieved butsome of the energy from the laser and then re-emit that the technology required to make this a possibilityenergy. The photon that was re-emitted has slightly currently doesn’t exist. Knowing this, scientists stillless energy than the photon that was absorbed into the try to cool a substance as much as possible in hopes ofatom which in turn slows the atom down and lowers learning even more about atomic physics which couldthe amount of heat energy it has (Ketterle). Another lead to even more breakthroughs in physics as a whole.process used by Ketterle is called evaporative cooling, Physics 25

26 Nobelium Magazine • Winter 2017-18

Written by Maddy King teleportation, yet it has a different connotationT Edited by Clara Lawry than the word teleportation. To start, quantum eleportation is the transfer of matter refers to the allowed amount of energy a photonfrom one point in space to another point withoutthe physical movement of traveling the distance. can have. Therefore, quantum entanglement is “aAs a subject of mainstream media in popular propertyof particles created at the same time whichshows such as Star Trek and Dr. Who, the term exist in a shared state, such that actions affecting“teleportation” is relevant but seen as undeniably one particle also affect the other” as stated byfuturistic. Yet this unthinkable idea is slowly Michael Lucy, editor of Cosmos magazine. Or intransitioning from science fiction to reality. Which other words, entangled particles are like twins. Thebrings in a question many are dying to know, particles are connected in such a way that whenwhen will teleportation be accessible to the public one particle does something, so too does its twin.as a form of transportation? Scientists can create the connection between two particles by studying and harnessing the energy The answer? Give it time. In June and July the particles give off or take in. This duplicationof 2017, a group of Chinese scientists managed to of particles could theoretically be used on biggersuccessfully teleport photons from Earth to space. things, if we can name and recreate the quantumPhotons are small packets of light that have a state identity (position, movement, and intrinsiccertain energy and vibrational frequency (Tech spin) of atoms then in principle we could createTarget). This event marked the furthest distance these twins on a larger scale.of teleportation to date. From a groundworkstation in Tibet, China, millions of photons were Currently, labs are able to duplicate andtransmitted from the lab to the Miscus satellite.This satellite was launched in 2016 by the Chinese transmit light atoms and electrons from one pointAcademy of Sciences for the purpose of testingquantum theories. As it hovered in low orbit, to another. With the evolution of technology, thethe team of researchers successfully completedover 900 teleportation trials (Time). The ability next step of quantum entanglement will probablyto move light energy up to 870 miles (1,400 km)over Earth’s surface proved a major achievement involve computers. Computers could potentiallyfor quantum researchers. To rephrase theimportance of this trial, Chinese scientist, Chao- use quantum physics to quickly transferYang Lu stated, “This work establishes the firstground-to-satellite up-link for faithful and ultra- information with a remarkably secure datalong-distance quantum teleportation, an essentialstep toward global-scale quantum internet” encryption (Sajan Saini). Also, in the future we(arXiv). Bill Munro, senior research scientist ofNTT’s Basic Research Lab, stated in an interview, could have the possibility to create teleportation“People have this ‘Star Trek’ approach, theythink of atoms being teleported. What we’re pads, centralized places to move objects to andmoving is information from one [quantum] bitto another [quantum] bit,” and that’s the current from with teleportation. And with decreasingsituation. resources like fossil fuels to power movement, As mentioned, these trials used quantumentanglement, the scientific way to say using teleportation could be an easier route for transportation. As crazy as it is to think about, this subject has transitioned from completely unknown to being used on Earth in less than a century. Back in 1935, Albert Einstein and two coworkers first hypothesized quantum entanglement while they worked on an experiment where they realised what they knew about quantum mechanics was incomplete, and dubbed the experiment “spooky action at a distance” (CNET). The relatively short amount of time in which our ideas of quantum entanglement have evolved provides hope into the future of teleportation. With more research, dedication, and time, the impossible could turn possible very soon. Physics 27

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