SCIENCE GURU

Mountain View High School Science Magazine

Feb Mar 2014
Te latest and hottest news about science
from all around the world! We publish
an issue every month; copies can be
found in Dr. Tornburgs room and
issues are posted on our blog.
Editor-in-Chief: Kiana Nouri

Science Guru club meets every Friday at lunch in 120, Dr. Tornburgs room
12 6
16
18
19
10
Science at the
Winter Olympics
Pratik Mulpury
Letter From the Editor
The Science of Getting Accepted
to Your Top College: Part 1
Kiana Nouri
Why you should join Science Guru club?
Hint: 1) You get accepted into a HPYSM early,
2) You get early acceptance to Best Public University
in the World (Cal)
3) You get Likely letter from an IVY League
University!
Most important of all: You will spread your passion of
scientific knowledge
Kiana Nouri
Precision, Style,
and a Strontium
Atomic Clock
Jasmine Deng
College Review:
Columbia University
Kiana Nouri
The Las Vegas Consumer
Electronics Show
Kelyn Wood
Wingardium
Leviosa!
Jasmine Deng
Making Stem Cells
in 30 Minutes
Pratik Mulpury
Metabolic Compound Shown
to Have Anti-Aging Effects
Avni Singhal
8
The Age of
Asteroids
Carter Fox
9
Supernova
Alert!
Carter Fox
7
What does MIT Physics Prof.
Lewin & Miley Cyrus have in
common?!
Kiana Nouri
4
The Dark Future of the
Universe: Death by Ice
Owen Noga
H
ave you ever
been late to
school or to an
important event be-
cause your clock was a
few minutes too slow?
Have you been made
fun of by your friends
because your wrist-
watch wasnt classy
enough?
Continued page 14
S
cience Guru wants you! Although we
have had so many active members and
contributors in our club and to our Maga-
zine and Blog, we are still recruiting. Tis cur-
rent issue had an overfow of articles, we have
had many freshmen and sophomores in the
club and we are loosing 2 graduating seniors.
So why are we recruiting more?
Continued page 11
C
an I please contact
you in my senior year to
get information on col-
lege applications?
Since I heard early accep-
tance from couple of my colleg-
es, many non-senior members
of Science Guru Club kept ask-
ing me or sending me e-mails
with the above query.
Continued page 2
2

Ten I started hearing the same
from sophomores and juniors in
my AP classes. Let me just tell
you that being upperclassman
has never made me superior to
the lower classmen in my classes,
but being able to share what I
have learned in the last few years
as far as college applications are
concerned, makes me very proud.
Why? First of all as a MVHS
student, it would be my honor to
have as many as possible students
get accepted to top colleges in
the upcoming years. MVHS is
one of the best High schools in
our area, California and U.S. and
second, those who know me, are
very well aware that I never boast
about anything and I try to help
anyone as much as possible. So it
always makes me feel very good,
when I can help anyone, espe-
cially college apps. So I decided
to write this article. Although it is
not a science related article, still
my experiences will help any sci-
ence major. My other motivation
for writing this article was to let
many of you know that Science
Guru had a lot with me to get ac-
cepted to top colleges.
Te most important factor in
getting prepared for college is to
discover both your academic and
non-academic passions early. It
could be early high school, early
middle school or elementary
school. Believe it or not, I used
to go to College information
sessions, when I was in middle
school and when I heard this line
from College Admission people,
I used to think this sentence is so
clichd. Today, I believe in it. If
you love something, you are the
most motivated to do it, you do
not get tired of it, you will con-
tinue to do it in college and your
adult life. Do not do anything so
that it looks good in college appli-
cations, do it for the right reason,
do it because you want to, not
because you have to.
As many of you seniors have
found out this year and as many
of you non-seniors will fnd out,
there are always things you do not
know about this process, even if
you are the most astute college
application expert student.
For example, I never knew
about Rank in high school
until the summer before senior
year. I had heard about it, but
since MVHS transcripts never
included it, I had no idea. MVHS
does both Weighted GPA and
unweighted GPA ranking. For
example all 4.0 GPA students are
ranked frst. But the weighted
GPA rank can go even to a 5.0.
Te more honor and AP classes,
the higher usually your GPA and
hence your rank. At MVHS I al-
ways took classes the I loved, I did
not know about rank, and I took
Orchestra, Peer Tutor, Teacher
Aide, and Track & feld, although
all being non-honor and non-AP
classes. When I was flling in my
common- app in fall of senior
year, I did not know my rank. I
went to my counselor, asked him
to write it for me on a piece of
paper and never looked at it. Later
on that day, I found out I was
ranked 1st with highest weighted
GPA between 435 MVHS seniors!
Did I plan this? Not at all, my goal
always was to get excellent grades
while I learn and enjoy my learn-
ing, passionately. Let me mention
that starting next year, MVLA
will not ofcially report rank to
colleges, and that is excellent.
Unfortunately, many IVY and top
colleges still ask for Rank, and be-
ing 1/435 did not hurt. But, even
without rank, colleges looked at
my weighted GPA and having
an almost 4.9/4.0 weighted GPA,
specially in the hardest years of
The Science of Getting Accepted to Your Top College: Part 1
Letter From the Editor Kiana Nouri
Continued from page 1
3
Letter From the Editor Kiana Nouri
high school (10-12), gives you an
edge over other applicants. So yes,
grades are the most important.
Afer grades, rigor of courses,
what courses you have taken in
the context of what courses your
high school ofers, matters greatly.
University of California (UC)
application does an excellent job
of being connected to your high
schools course oferings.
Get yourself educated in col-
lege app process. I attended local
college information sessions by
MIT, CalTech, Brown, Johns Hop-
kins, Stanford, UCLA, Duke, Yale,
and Cal (UC Berkeley) all during
middle school. I just joined and
listened to many web chat ses-
sions. I learned from other stu-
dents questions tremendously.
1. I took an MIT course Summer
of junior year and I loved it.
I had conversations with the
professor and exchanged e-
mails with her afer the course
as well. She gave me excellent
advice. She was a female teach-
ing an advanced math course
and I became confdent MIT
could be one of my top choices.
I later used my conversations
with this professor and my ex-
perience with the MIT course
in my MIT application, and
I believe it was an important
part of my application. Learn-
ing so much from this class, I
later made a monetary dona-
tion to the department running
these courses. Why? I felt this
class and professor had made
an impact on my future college
decision and academic feld.
2. UC Berkeley audio- web chat
sessions live: I learned that
my character and being a very
good and caring human being
is very important for them. I
decided I would ft in perfectly.
Tis was practically proven
to me. I was one of 200 out of
60,000 invited applicants for
prestigious Cal Regents Schol-
arship, got early college accep-
tance ofcially and was in-
vited to meet one of my future
professors. Afer our interesting
conversation I was invited by
him to become his intern in
my 1st semester and later on he
sent me more information and
links about my academic inter-
est and how Cal actually has an
institute only in my intended
feld of interest. Afer meeting
Cal Regent students and this
professor, I became confdent
UC Berkeley is one of the best
universities in the world, both
academically and personally.
Cal is one of my top choices.
3. Art of Problem Solving college-
chat live session by MIT: best
math/engineering admission
advice. MITs director of ad-
mission personally conducted
these sessions to recruit future
MIT students.
Te holistic admission ap-
proach MIT admission uses
was practically proven to me
aferwards.
Kiana Nouri is the founder, presi-
dent, and editor-in-chief of Science
Guru Blog, Magazine, and Club.
Tis issue of Science Guru is cre-
ated, edited, and published by her.
Continued in next issues:
Test Scores, Activities, Essays
Interviews, Early
Acceptance, UC Regents
and Likely Letters
4
D
arkness. Our universe was created from what seemed like nothing, a
tiny, infnitely dense point smaller than the smallest part of an atom. Ten,
13.7 billion years ago, the universe literally infated into existence, the Big
Bang. Space itself expanded even faster than light, because it is not subject to
the same speed limitations on particles with mass. Galaxies took shape within
a billion years. In one of these, a supernova would occur almost 9 billion years
afer the moment of creation. Part of its remaining debris would aid in the con-
struction of a new solar system, one which would harbor 8 planets (I apologize
for pluto advocates). Although the system faced much chaos in the frst billion
years of existence, life began to evolve on the third rock, 93 million miles from
the central star. Finally, life became more complex, creating a young species with
unlimited potential and curiosity, pondering where they came from, and what
will become of them.
Although we have a fairly concrete understanding of how the universe
began, we are yet to discover what is in store for us in the future. It may seem a
daunting task to predict what will happen in the next decade, let alone millions,
billions, or possibly trillions of years from now. However, our vast knowledge of
how the universe works gives us many tools in predicting the future.
Te most important factor to consider is a force known as dark energy. Tis
mysterious force essentially works in the reverse of gravity, pushing space and
matter apart, driving what we call the expansion of the universe. Many believe
it could have provided the kick to jumpstart the big bang itself. Tis force in
principle, will determine the age of the universe. It gives us three likely ways our
universe could exist until its inevitable death.
Continued next page
The Dark Future of the
Universe: Death by Ice
Tis is Owen
Nogas frst
contribution to
Science Guru.
Owen
Noga
5
In our frst scenario, we as-
sume this dark energy slowly
weakens overtime. Eventually,
it would allow gravity to gain
the advantage, and in 20 billion
years, according to the theory, the
universe would reverse course,
and contract. It would create
enormous temperatures as all the
galaxies collide, crunching their
stars together. Finally, the uni-
verse would collapse. All matter
would then exist much as it was
prior to the big bang, in a micro-
scopic point.
Tis theory is ofen called
Te Big Crunch. It was a very
widely accepted theory for many
years. However measurements
conducted over the past decade
indicate the strength of dark
energy is actually increasing, and
the expansion of the universe is
accelerating. Tis narrows us to
two possibilities:
In the second scenario, dark
energy steadily increases with
time until it reaches a tipping
point. Tis energy would become
so great gravity would be over-
powered, causing galaxies, stars,
and planets to rip
apart. We humans
are bound by elec-
tromagnetic forces,
much stronger than
gravity, but dark
energy would over-
power this force as
well, killing all life
(even if the earth still
existed). Tis force
would then become
stronger than the
ultimate power, the strong nuclear
force binding all atoms together.
Essentially, everything in the uni-
verse will be ripped apart, even
atoms.
We like to call this theory
Te Big Rip. It is indeed the most
gruesome end to the universe,
but most astronomers agree it has
little chance of taking place. Tis
leaves one other scenario: Te Big
Freeze.
Just like the other theories,
the big freeze is self explanatory.
According to this model, the
universes expansion will continue
to increase, indefnitely, but never
becoming strong enough to rip
apart atoms. All stars would cease
to shine in about 100 trillion years
when almost all the hydrogen fuel
necessary for nuclear fusion is
used up. Afer the last star dies,
our universe would enter a period
called the degenerate era. At this
age, the only objects would be
the lefover ashes of stars called
white dwarfs from star like the
sun, neutron stars from stars that
went supernova, and black holes
from the most massive stars.
Tese objects would manage to
hold makeshif galaxies together.
White dwarfs would be most
abundant because low mass stars
are the most common in todays
universe. However, these objects
would slowly be fung out of
galaxies or consumed by black
holes. Immense timescales in this
era would make even 100 trillion
years look like the blink of an
eye. Black holes soon become the
dominant power in most galax-
ies that still exist. Even the white
dwarfs and neutron stars that
escape will decay over time. Tor-
ough proton decay, all atoms will
essentially fall apart in years.
We then enter the black hole
era. Now all signifcantly mas-
sive structures lef in the universe
are the mighty black holes. Tese
objects suck in anything around
them to grow. However, if there is
no new material for them to swal-
low, which will be the case, they
evaporate through a phenomenon
called hawking radiation. In sum-
mary, they will evaporate away at
incredibly slow rates. In a googol-
plex years ( yrs), the most massive
black holes will have evaporated.
Te fnal era in our universes
history would be the
dark era. Te uni-
verse would be a truly
cold, dark, desolate
place, devoid of any-
thing except for some
scattered electrons
and radiation in the
huge void of space.
Just as our universe
rose out of the dark-
ness, to the darkness
it shall return.
The Dark Future of the Universe . . . Owen Noga
Continued from previous page
6
C
olumbia University is one of the worlds most important centers of
research and at the same time a distinctive and distinguished learning envi-
ronment for undergraduates and graduate students in many scholarly and
professional felds. Te University is located in New York City and seeks to link
its research and teaching to the vast resources in surrounding areas. Columbia
attracts a diverse and international faculty and student body, to support research
and teaching on global issues, and to create academic relationships with many
countries and regions.
Columbia is one of the best Universities you can study science and Math,
because of the quantity and quality of research opportunity availability for
students starting in freshman year. What impressed me about the school is
that, when I submitted my common Application for the Regular cycle but very
early during the early cycle, the professors and graduate students sent me let-
ters to mention what they are doing in their research and how interesting their
research is. Tey pointed me to specifc research being done currently and a
detailed publication on the content and funding of each research starting fresh-
man year in college. Tis was one of the best recruiting letters I had received
from a college. Tey sold me just by sending me the booklet of current research
projects in my feld.
Second point you may not know about Columbia is that it has a core set of
courses that is required to be taken but everyone, which is called CORE and it,
is a combination of humanities and social sciences that are quite interesting.
Many students complain about CORE, but delving more into content of these
courses I became confdent that they would be very useful.
Columbias student social life is in Manhattan area of city of New York, and
since it is a quite expensive area, students end up living in the dorm for at least 4
years.
In case you did not know, our own president Obama attended Columbia.
Other alumni are Warren Bufet whom I remember claimed that the school
has one of the best business schools. Additionally President Clintons daughter
Chelsea also attended the Master of Public Health program there. Columbias
Medical school and the recent Institute of Data Science are some of the promi-
nent parts of university.
Finally, Columbia is the largest Ivy League and has more than sixteen thou-
sands students. Te 75percentile Sat/ACT score for last years entering class was
about 2300/35. If you are a research oriented science person, this place will be
an academic heaven for you!
Continued next page
College Review: Columbia University
Kiana Nouri
is the founder,
president, and
editor-in-chief
of Science Guru
Blog, Magazine,
and Club. Tis
issue of Science
Guru is created,
edited, and pub-
lished by her.
Kiana
Nouri
7
Below is part of my Columbias
Common App supplement appli-
cation, hope it gives you an idea
about this university and what it
looks for in its student body:
List the books read for plea-
sure that you enjoyed most in
the past year. (150 words or less)
Digital Fortress (Dan Brown), Te
Grand Design (Stephen Hawking),
Te signal and the noise (Nate Sil-
ver), Outliers (Malcolm Gladwell)
List the flms, concerts, shows,
exhibits, lectures and other en-
tertainments you enjoyed most
in the past year. (150 words or
less) Google Technovation Chal-
lenge National Pitch event, Te
Hadoop Summit Exhibit in San
Jose, Te San Francisco Symphony
(especially hearing Yundi Li play
Chopin), the San Jose Earthquakes
& Los Angeles Galaxy Soccer game
at Stanford Stadium, Computer
History Museum, Palo Alto Cham-
ber Orchestra at Stanford, the MIT
Tech Fair (Techtalks, Hackathon),
TedxStanford, Women 2.0 Silicon
Valley, Lincoln (Movie), Free Te
Mind (Movie), Jobs (Movie)
Please tell us what you
found meaningful about one
of the above mentioned books,
publications or cultural events.
(300 words or less) Te future
of humankind is dependent on
Technovation girls, announced
well-known venture capitalist Ben
Horowitz during the Technova-
tion Challenge pitch event keynote.
Sure he addressed a major chal-
lenge our society facesa gender
imbalance in techbut I couldnt
help but recognize the irony here: a
male was talking about this imbal-
ance. But thats when it hit me if
there were more female VCs, there
would be more startup funding of
female-owned companies. Horow-
itz later validated my idea: On
average, fve people get educated
because if you educate one girl,
she will educate at least four other
people through the course of her life.
Tats just statistics.
Trough Technovation, an ap-
plication development competition
sponsored by Google and MIT, I
took Horowitzs approach to heart.
As a female, I didnt want to just
educate four other people, I wanted
to educate the 37% of high school
students who dont receive alcohol
education. [. . .]
Afer building the prototype,
creating a business plan, and pitch-
ing it to venture capitalists, our
application won frst in California,
third in nationals, and I was later
interviewed by CNBC live. I see
Intoxication Station as the frst of
many apps that will educate more
than just four people.

Columbia University Kiana Nouri

T
his past January a supernova lit up
the Cigar Galaxy, M82. Supernovae are
so bright they can outshine an entire
galaxy. Tis image shows a before and afer
shot of the galaxy, clearly identifying the
intensely bright explosion.
Supernova Alert! Carter Fox
8
A
steroids are the left overs of the solar system, the remnants of plan-
etesimals that could not endure the birth of the planets. When the sun
frst ignited it lef a thick disk of dust and gas. Tese small particles of
dust clumped together to form little dust balls similar to dust bunnies under
a bed. Electricity in the disk electrifed this dust balls, forming hard pebbles.
Tis meteorite, called Fukang was clearly built from these small pebbles. Small
pebbles eventually collected to form rocks, growing and growing until the size
of a massive boulder. Tis process, called accretion, continued until massive
boulders had enough gravity to pull in nearby material, rather than gaining
mass by random collisions. Planetesimals rapidly grew until several orbited the
sun. Tis started a sort of cosmic stand of between the inner, rocky planets.
Tey collided, smashing each other to smithereens or sticking together to create
one large planet. Eventually, only the present inner planets of the solar system
remained. Many of the lefover rock and dust accumulated to form the asteroid
belt, between Mars and Jupiter.
Tese prehistoric rocks may soon serve as stepping-stones to colonizing the
galaxy. President Obama has set NASA a goal of sending a team of astronauts to
an asteroid by 2025. Tis is a very intimidating task, but is underway and may
lead to further colonization of the galaxy.
Continued next page
The Age of Asteroids
Carter has been
an active mem-
ber and a major
article contribu-
tor since we since
he started at
Mountain View
High as a fresh-
man. He has
been in charge
of PR and has
recruited several
new members to
Science Guru.
Carter
Fox
9
To send astronauts to an
asteroid NASA plans to send
the Orion spacecraf to a near
Earth asteroid about 7-10
meters across. Te spacecraf
will then hijack the asteroid by
enclosing it in an enormous
bag, as seen in the image. Te
spacecraf will proceed to tug
the asteroid bag to Earth and
place it in orbit around the Moon.
NASA can then send astronauts
to the spacecraf where they
will drill samples in the rock
by digging through small
openings in the surface
of the bag. Humans will
be able to investigate the
material of an ancient rock
born in the formation of
the planets. In addition, the
asteroid may also turn into
the most proftable mining opera-
tion in the solar system. Asteroids
are rich in metals and may con-
tain incredible deposits of gold,
iron, platinum, and other rare
elements. Tese can be mined
then transported back to Earth
and sold in massive quantities.
Large deposits of unique
metals in asteroids may soon
lead to a new era in human
history, the age of asteroids.
Asteroids can serve as stepping-
stones to other parts of the
galaxy. Humans could travel to
an asteroid and set up factories
using the metal deposits to build
new spacecrafs. Te large
volumes of water could
be used to obtain oxygen
for rocket fuel. A series of
asteroid bases could be set
up throughout solar systems,
spreading the human race
across the galaxy.

The Age of Asteroids Carter Fox

Continued from previous page
G
o to our Online Magazine science-
[email protected] and click on
the below link to fnd out!
http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=GJ6_nOqtuLw
Just like me, many of you have watched
MIT Physics professor, Prof. Lewins
videos or at least heard about his famous
fun physics teaching methods. Just search
Miley Cyrus, Prof Lewin and MIT in
YouTube and you will be laughing for
hours!
What does MIT Physics Prof. Lewin Kiana Nouri
& Miley Cyrus have in common?!
10
E
very year, a multitude of new products come out to make us look
younger for longer, ranging from Botox to teeth whitening strips, but rarely
is aging tackled at the cellular level. Researchers from the United States and
Australia led by David Sinclair recently found that a metabolic coenzyme that
regulates electron transfer in cellular respiration, NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine
dinucleotide), could boost muscle function and reverse the efects of aging.
Aging normally involves senescence, the process of molecular and cell struc-
ture changes disrupting metabolism over time and eventually leading to death.
Muscles ofen become insulin resistant, so they can not take up the glucose they
need for energy, causing elderly people to have reduced activity levels. Tis oc-
curs because mitochondrial DNA, which is responsible for normal mitochondri-
al function including generating ATP, stops interacting with the genes from the
nucleus over time. Te decreasing of NAD+ levels in older mice correlates with
the decreased communication. By replenishing NAD+, scientists have been able
to successfully reverse the aging of skeletal muscle in mice. Trials on two year old
mice made them appear six months old. Tey experienced noticeable increases
in muscle tone in under a week.
As explained by Harvard Medical School professor David Sinclair Te aging
process we discovered is like a married couple. When they are young, they com-
municate well, but over time, living in close quarters for many years, communi-
cation breaks down. And just like a couple, restoring communication solved the
problem.
Human trials of NAD+ are expected to begin this year. According to scien-
tists, if results are similar to those in mice, it will be like a sixty year old person
having the ftness of a twenty year old person. In addition, because the chemical
naturally exists in the body, side efects are expected to be minimal. Although
treatments are expensive and conducting a study will require raising millions of
dollars, the treatment could be revolutionary when it hits the market. Tis age
reversal theory could help treat diseases like cancer, diabetes, and dementia.
Metabolic Compound Shown
to Have Anti-Aging Effects
Avni has been
an ofcer,
active member,
and article
contributor
since we started
Science Guru
and since
she started
at Mountain
View High as
a freshman.
Currently she is
Science Gurus
secretary.
Avni
Singhal
11
Mountain View High School is one of the best high schools in the nation,
California and in Silicon Valley, especially in STEM felds. We have some of
the best AP and Honor Science course curriculums. We just built a whole new
Science wing with new classes, labs and technology. Most important of all, we
have some of the best Science instructors, there is to have. Some of the Stanford
Universitys Science professors and PhDs that I know and have worked with,
are amazed by how high quality and hard our Physics and Chemistry advanced
courses are.
Science Guru is Mountain View High Schools Science Magazine and we
owe it to ourselves and our classmates and our community to make sure it con-
tinues to get published with highest quality. Why? Because if you are a Science
Guru, you want to spread scientifc knowledge to others and if you want to be a
scientist one day, spreading your science knowledge is your passion.
Here is a part of one of my short essays in my college applications About
Science Guru. I got an e-mail from a College admission staf and was praised for
this piece:
Im a science guru; I stay up late watching PBSs Nova instead of
Friends and if it were possible, I would eat freeze-dried space food instead
of mac & cheese. So, afer reading Mind-controlled Prosthetics, an article
that discussed how new bionic limbs mimic the human arms form, I spread
the news. I created Science Guru, a science magazine and blog.
Afer distributing 1,550 copies around school, I never thought I would
have seen the day. My peers were talking, excitedly, about articles I wrote
how Wnt pathways generate bad stem cells which might create supersized
humans.
Although Im only seventeen, I consider myself part of the scientifc
community. By creating Science Guru, I not only created another com-
munityone at my schoolbut also advanced sciences cardinal tenet to
spread knowledge. Now I just need to fnd freeze-dried mac & cheese!
Just e-mail us and join us: [email protected]
Why you should join Science Guru club?
Kiana Nouri
is the founder,
president, and
editor-in-chief
of Science Guru
Blog, Magazine,
and Club. Tis
issue of Science
Guru is created,
edited, and pub-
lished by her.
Kiana
Nouri
Hint: 1) You get accepted into a HPYSM early,
2) You get early acceptance to Best Public University in the World (Cal)
3) You get Likely letter from an IVY League University!
Most important of all: You will spread your passion of scientific knowledge
Continued from page 1
12
W
hen one thinks of the Winter Olympics, the frst thing that comes
to mind defnitely would be the eye-popping opening ceremony or the
intense competition, not psychology, physics, or engineering. Unlike
many sporting events, there is an immense amount of science behind the winter
olympics that I will cover in a few sections.
Happiness and the Podium
Although, this may come as a surprise to many people, bronze medalists tend to
be more content than silver medalists. Tis is due to a fundamental sentiment in
psychology, the actual achievements of a person matter less that how the person
views the achievements. To put this in the context of something relateable, if
you expected to fail a test and get a C, you would be more content than another
student who expected to get an A on the same test and received a B. Tis is ex-
plained by a concept in psychology that is called counterfactual thinking which
involves the tendency of humans to create possible alternative situations to what
actually happened. Te medalists of events in the Winter Olympics each have
diferent counterfactual thoughts that afect their state of mind afer their event
is over. On average, the gold medalist would feel positive due to the victory and
would not have negative counterfactual thoughts as a result of their being a lack
of alternative possibilities that are better than reality, while the silver medalist
will focus on the fact that they almost won gold, and the bronze medalist would
be glad as their counterfactual thoughts would be more focused on not even
winning a medal by being fourth place and below.
Continued next page
Science at the
Winter Olympics
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13
Te Engineering of Te Half
Pipe
One of the most popular events
in the Winter Olympics is the
Half Pipe and it has led to the
creation of many legends such
as the American gold medalist
Shaun White. Despite its simple
appearance, there has been much
efort by engineers to design the
half pipe. At the Sochi Olympics,
a 65 feet wide, 22 feet high, and
557 feet long half pipe has been
constructed. Tis maximation
of the radius (for which a height
increase is necessary) is vital in
order to allow for snowboarders
to have a simpler time changing
directions while traveling at high
speeds. As snowboarders begin
to change direction on the half
pipe, they experience centripetal
acceleration, which is acceleration
that acts in a perpendicular direc-
tion to the snowboarder due to
the change of direction. In order
to pull themselves up the turns
snowboarders must carry their
weight plus 2.5-2.75 times their
weight due to the force. As the
acceleration increases the amount
of force exerted on the body of
snowboarders increases. Tis is
why the radius of the half-pipe is
a focal point for engineers. Te
larger the radius, the more the
force caused by centripetal accel-
eration is decreased. Due to this,
the height and radius of the half
pipe has been increasing in order
to decrease the forces on the body
of the snowboarders.
Te Suits Of Te Olympians
For the 2014 Winter Olympics in
Sochi Under Armour has claimed
to have designed the most ad-
vanced speed skating suits ever
for the American speed skating
team. Tese suits were designed
with the intention of improving
the aerodynamics of the athletes.
One of the focal points that the
engineers at Under Armour
focused on was reducing friction.
In order to accomplish this task,
a material called POSS is utilized
in the suit to limit the friction
created by limbs touching each
other, due to it decreasing con-
tact between two surfaces touch-
ing each other as a result of the
structure of POSS. Another major
point of focus, was to reduce drag.
Drag also known as air resistance
refers to friction acting against an
object moving through fuid such
as air. Te suits accomplish this by
the inclusion of an unique slip-
pery fabric that reduces air drag.
Te suit also incorporates small
bumps and dips into the design
as it was proven to be faster if air
was disrupted by these. Tese
suits have undergone extensive
testing in wind tunnels as motion
capture technology was used to
create mannequins in common
poses of speed skaters to use for
testing. Afer using the wind
tunnels, the engineers were able
to determine the materials and
design features necessary to maxi-
mize performance while main-
taining enough comfortability so
athletes could use these suits for
long periods of time.
Science at the Winter Olympics Pratik Mulpury
Continued from previous page
14
Well, never fear. Weve all gone through similar situations (probably). And
luckily for you, scientists have managed to create an atomic clock, the most pre-
cise and classy clock yet had this clock begun ticking when the Earth formed
4.5 billion years ago, it wouldnt yet have gained or lost a single second. Over
that span, a Swiss quartz watch would stray a couple thousand years, which
would make you late for school for sure.
Humans have always been obsessed with time. Quite early on, there was
the sundial, which inconveniently did not work at night or in cloudy weather.
Tere was the water clock, the candle clock, the timestick, and the hourglass.
Ten came the more handy mechanical clocks in the 1300s and the pendulum
clock invented in 1656. And now, we are dealing with atomic clocks, which are
the most precise yet and what most of us use. (Te Mayan calendar was fairly
accurate as well, though wrong about the world ending in 2012. Tats a difer-
ent topic, though.) With an atomic clock, you can time yourself to the precise
nanosecond, picosecond, and yoctosecond.
Greater certainty in time is based on quantum mechanics. Einstein, in 1935,
realized that, in theory, multiple particles, at frst in a superposition state, could
interact and maintain a strange connection once separated. If someone mea-
sured one particle, they would be able to determine the properties of the others
and this connection holds true regardless of distance. Tough its important
to say that this is not the same thing as instantaneous messaging instead, the
Continued next page
Precision, Style, and a
Strontium Atomic Clock
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contributor
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Currently she is
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Community
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Jasmine
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Continued from page 1
15
measurement of one particle
changes the universe in a way
so that the other particle has a
defnite property to measure that
it didnt previously possess. Tis
relationship was termed quantum
entanglement. While nobody
knows how what Einstein called
spooky action at a distance
works, this result can be used to
consolidate pendulums.
Te key to a good clock is a
pendulum that oscillates at a con-
stant rate and weve found the
perfect pendulum: atoms. Only
discrete amounts of energy can
cause an atoms electron to jump
between energy levels. Physicists
have tuned lasers to shine with
the exact energy amount to allow
these energy jumps, and these in
turn give rise to the consequent
microwave emission by the atom
when the electron changes energy
levels. Tere is also an electronic
oscillator operating at microwave
frequency, tuned in resonance
with the frequency of the elec-
tronic transition of, in this case,
strontium. Time is derived from
this frequency standard, mean-
ing that the oscillator is used for
frequency calibration of the clock.
Te new strontium clocks,
made by researcher Jun Ye, are
more precise than the cesium
clocks because the new clock uses
shorter pendulum swings caused
by visible-light lasers oscillating
430 trillion times a second and
probes several thousand atoms
rather than just one.
Using entanglement, though,
atoms can act as one giant pen-
dulum instead of many individ-
ual pendulums, like the calcium
atoms in Monzs experiment. In
2011, an Austrian team including
Tomas Monz entangled 14 cal-
cium atoms. Te result was that
the 14 calcium atoms behaved like
on mega-atom.
And using entanglement, we
can go even further. Transmitting
the visible-light
signal from the
new strontium
clock is too dif-
fcult, as it oscil-
lates too quickly
and there is no
technology yet
that is able to
transmit it. But
the more interest-
ing idea proposed
by Ye is to create
a network of entangled clocks
that are also entangled with each
other, another technology that is
not possible yet.
So luckily for you, the stron-
tium clock can now have 430 tril-
lion pendulum swings per second
as opposed to the mere 9.2 billion
pendulum swings per second in
the cesium clock. If you get your
hands on this, youll never be late
again. If your friends keep mak-
ing fun of you for your unstylish
wristwatch, just whip out this
beauty. (Of course, this is disre-
garding the fact that the stron-
tium clock needs to be kept as
close to absolute zero as possible
to still be precise. Also disregard-
ing the fact that if you tried to
wear the clock on your wrist, you
would probably break your arm
because its a wee bit heavy.)
And if you sleep in, all the
strontium clocks in the world
wont be able to keep you from
being late, in which case being
able to time travel would be much
more convenient. But you might
need to content yourself with a
strontium clock for now before
that becomes possible.

Precision, Style, and a Strontium . . . Jasmine Deng

Te basic principle
of an atomic clock
Continued from previous page
Jun Yes strontium clock
16
T
he electronics show in Las Vegas was a spectacular event, proof that
humans can overcome almost any problem. From January 5th to January
9th this year, the coolest gadgets were on display for all to marvel at the
ingenuity in creating tomorrows world. Te following gadgets were selected
because they looked the coolest, and do not refect everything that was shown
at the show. Severla hundred products were exhibited. See the bottom of this
article for websites to fnd additional awesome technology.
Ultra HD TV- the next generation of televisions is being born, with greater
picture quality than ever before. New discs are also being worked on that will
run in this class of television.
Virtual Reality Headset (Sony) Wearable HDTV/HMZ-T3W- this remark-
able device places you in a virtual world, and moving your head up, down, etc.
changes the view on the screen. Although it is reported that though light and
confortable, assistance is required to get the headset on.
Stir- Tis company created a desk that prompts you to stand instead of just
having you sit, which is bad for your health. Afer sitting for a while, the seat
will move up an inch, telling you to stand. Te desk then grows higher to ac-
commodate you. Te seat senses your presence via heat sensors installed in the
chair. Settings will be changed from a screen in the desk itself.
3D Systems displayed their new ChefJet Pro, which created an array of beau-
tiful sculptures made out ofmelted sugar. Te sugar is printed on the sheet,
and then moistened so it bonds with the other granules to form a single solid.
Te printer also can print in chocolate.
Company Razer produced the new Nabu wristwatch that can play music and
act as a health monitor, including pedometer, pulse, etc. Tink iPod plus pe-
dometer plus blood pressure monitor plus
Tomas Serval created the Kolibree toothbrush, which tracks how well you
brush your teeth, then sends the results to your smartphone. It is predicted that
kids will spend more time playing games on the respective smartphone instead
of learning how to brush their teeth.
Delphi Automotive PLC displayed a mostly driverless car. Te prototype is
a modifed Tesla model S with an onboard computer. Tis computer navigates
a map of the highway the cars on, then moves inside the program. Te results
are transmitted to the wheel, gas, brakes, and clutch, thus driving the car. How-
ever, this is only viable for highway travel, as stoplights are too complicated for
Continued next page
The Las Vegas Consumer
Electronics Show
Finally, Something in Vegas that
is Fun for the Whole Family
Kelyn is a
second-year
member of
Science Guru
Club and a
contributing
writer to our
magazine.
Kelyn
Wood
17
All other sources are from www.washingtonpost.com
a computer to fgure out at this
point. So, the system warns the
driver when they will have to take
over. Te car is also equipped
with technology that ensures it
will not drif out of lanes or hit
cars ahead of it.
Designer Amy Winters
invented an all-purpose dress.
Using fber optics sewn into the
material, the color of the dress
can change when a button on the
inside of the lef sleeve is pressed.
Or just spam the button for an
interesting light show.
Taking painting into the
modern era, Rick Graham came
up with the NomadBrush Flex, a
stylus with small electric bristles
(mimicking a paintbrush) that are
sensed by the surface of an iPad.
Now, it is possible to paint on
your electronic devices without
damaging them.
Liquid Image Apex goggles
were a big hit. Essentially, they are
large silver ski goggles that allow
for pictures and video to be taken
directly from the lenses. Tough
large, they are less bulky and
unnaturally placed than GoPro
cameras, which noticeably stick
out from ones head.
Acoustic Sheep came out with
a new product called RunPhones.
Tis invention is a headband like
what one would wear while run-
ning, but at the ear level, there are
removable earphones, allowing
for more efcient music listening
while on the go.
Again, this list scratches the
surface of the technology dis-
played at the Las Vegas Consumer
Electronics Show. All of the prod-
ucts featured in the show were
exceptional, and hopefully tech-
nologys quality will continue to
surprise us for years to come.
. . . Consumer Electronics Show Kelyn Wood
Continued from previous page
NomadBrush Flex
Nabu wristband
www.techradar.com
Delphi Automotive PLC
Sony virtual
reality headset
LG ultra HDTV
www.wtop.com
ChefJet fnished product
Color Changing Dress
& Amy Winters
RunPhones
www.computerworld.com
ChefJet oven
liquidimage apex
HD camera goggles
Kolibree Toothbrush
www.usatoday.com
Stir standing desk
18
I
n the 21st century, we do not, unfortunately, have time machines or
hovercarsyet. However, Jun Rekimoto has built a device that uses sound to
levitate objects and, unlike many other machines that use sound to levitate
objects, Rekimotos machine is able to maneuver the object in all directions.
Physicists before Rekimoto have been able to levitate millimeter-sized objects
by trapping them in the pockets of low pressure between the crest of one sound
wave and the trough of another, a technique called acoustic levitation. But ma-
neuvering these objects has been difcult. Jun Rekimoto and his team have gotten
around this problem by setting up four arrays of speakers pointed at the center of
a half-meter-wide chamber. Tey are able to move the object up and down, lef
and right, back and forth, by changing the intensity of waves in each array.
Te team has been able to manipulate small things, such as feathers and alco-
hol droplets, and eventually the technique could be used to remotely mix com-
pounds to create pharmaceuticals without impurities.
Of course, this new technology may very well lead to hovercars and other
inventions, but I doubt any of that will happen until we can start using Rekimo-
tos machine to levitate objects that are larger than a feather.
Wingardium Leviosa!
Jasmine has been
an ofcer and
active member
and article
contributor
since we started
Science Guru.
Currently she is
Science Gurus
Community
Coordinator.
Jasmine
Deng
A more complicated diagram
explaining acoustic levitation
Jun Rekimotos machine
for acoustic levitation
19
S
tem cell research, which has lately been a budding feld in the world
of medicine has recently made discoveries that may usher a new era of medi-
cine, leading to the cure of devastating diseases such as Alzheimers and the
use of stem cells to regenerate damaged tissue in the body. Before I delve into this
groundbreaking research, I must frst discuss what a stem cell is and what it does.
Stem cells are the only type of cells in the body with the ability to difer-
entiate into more specialized types of cells. All cells with specialized functions
are generated from stem cells. Without stem cells, we cannot have specialized
structures like the heart and blood cells that we learn about in biology class or
any specialized structure at all. Due to this unique ability, stem cells have gotten
an extreme amount of attention from a part of the medical community. Tere
are many possible uses of stem cells such as learning how diseases occur and
develop, replacing damaged and diseased cells with new and healthy cells, and
the use of stem cells to test the efect of drugs on specifc cells. Te problem lies
in the fact that only embryonic stem cells and reprogrammed adult cells are plu-
ripotent, which means having the ability to turn into any type of cell. Sadly adult
cells are not nearly as versatile and durable as the embryonic cells plus there are
many setbacks that have been discovered while researching these adult cells that
are reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem cells. One of the most im-
portant of these setbacks is carcinogenesis (the creation of cancer). Tis leaves
embryonic cells as the most promising feld of stem cell research, yet there are
many ethical issues due to embryonic stem cells being obtained from early-stage
embryos. Tis is considered by many to be unethical.
Continued next page
Making Stem Cells
in 30 Minutes
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Pratik
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20
Tis is where the importance
of the discoveries by Haruto
Obokatas team at the Riken lab in
Kobe, Japan lies. Tey have suc-
cessfully showed they can trans-
form mature white blood
cells from newborn mice
into cells that behave like
stem cells. Moreover,
Obokata and her team
were able to do the same
with brain, muscle, skin,
bone marrow, lung and
liver cells. Tis was done
by stressing the cells by
placing them in a mildly
acidic solution with a pH
of 5.5 for solely 30 min-
utes. Te creation of these
cells is called stimulus-triggered
acquisition of pluripotency also
known as STAP. STAP cells are
created when the body is put
under stress and can form pla-
cental tissue, which is something
that induced pluripotent cells
and embryonic cells can not due.
Furthermore, STAP cells can be
created by almost all cell types.
Tis opens up many possibili-
ties to future research such as the
creation of STAP cells
to repair damaged and
diseased body parts, or to
study the mechanism by
which STAP cells are cre-
ated to learn how the age
of cells is locked in. Also,
it could make cloning
remarkably easier and can
replace embryonic cells in
the feld of regenerative
medicine.

Making Stem Cells in 30 Minutes Pratik Mulpury

Continued from previous page
On-line Blog: Scienceguru18.blogspot.com
From the Editor
Dear Readers,
We hope you have enjoyed our FebruaryMarch issue.
Feel free to visit us online at
[email protected] or join our
weekly club meetings every Friday at Lunch, room 120.
Kiana Nouri
Science Guru
Club Officers
Kiana Nouri
Rohun Saxena
Varsha Suresh Kumar
Jasmine Deng
Avni Singhal
Carter Fox
Science Guru
Club Members
Kelyn Wood
Pratik Mulpury
Owen Noga
Advisor
Dr. Katie Tornburg
Mountain View High School
3535 Truman Avenue,
Mountain View, CA 94040
Officers and members of Science Guru Magazine, Blog and Club Lef to right: Carter Fox,
Pratik Mulpury, Varsha Suresh Kumar, Kelyn Wood, Kiana Nouri, Dr. Katie
Tornburg (Faculty Advisor), Jasmine Deng, Avni Singhal, Rohun Saxena