Mighty Mite What’s the hurry, Paratarsotomus macropalpis?
Whatever it is, it must be important. This diminutive mite species, native to Southern California, was recently dubbed the world’s fastest-moving land animal relative to size. The discovery comes thanks to a team of Claremont Colleges biologists and physicists who believe there could be much to learn from the speedy arachnid. The size of a sesame seed, this diminutive dasher can be viewed with a high-speed camera racing along Claremont sidewalks. With bursts of up to 322 body lengths per second, this mighty mite leaves a former land-speed record-holder, the Australian tiger beetle, totally in the dust. Extrapolating this rate to human size, P. macropalpis could travel the distance from Claremont to Vancouver in an hour. For an organism that picks up and puts down each of its eight legs 135 times per second, it’s no wonder the itsy bitsy octoped can really move. By comparison, the four-legged
cheetah—the fastest-moving land animal irrespective of body size—can achieve 1CM a relative rate of just 16 body lengths per second. The fastest known human, Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, can reach six. Pomona College Professor of Biology Jonathan Wright took an interest in P. macropalpis for its turning capabilities and soon discovered the insect also runs like the wind. Harvey Mudd Professor of Biology Anna Ahn, who specializes in biomechanics, served as a special advisor to the project. Ahn, who collaborated previously with Wright on mite running research, says, “If we can understand the underlying mechanisms of how animals behave in extreme ways—like superfast running—then we can start to implement them into our engineering. If we can pick and choose ideas from biology to improve our engineered machines, then why wouldn’t we?”
Anna Ahn
Theoretical Physicists, Rejoice!
Swarming to Find Solutions Andrew Bernoff and his collaborators would like to understand how massive destructive locust swarms form and then develop strategies for intervention. A recent grant from the Simons Foundation will supplement this research titled “Discrete & Continuous Models of Non-local Chemical and Biological Systems.” Bernoff, Kenneth and Diana Jonsson Professor of Mathematics, studies mathematical modeling of pattern formation in physical and biological systems. On the biological side, he is particularly interested in how birds, fish and insects form aggregations, usually known as swarms. On the physical side, he is interested in how intermolecular forces can drive the formation of elaborate labyrinthian patterns in magnetic fluids and related systems. “Our studies are driven in part by a desire to understand how simple interaction rules between individual molecules or organisms can drive pattern formation on much larger scales,” says Bernoff. “By working with a network of biologists, physicists, mathematicians and a swarm of bright Harvey Mudd undergraduates, we are unraveling the mysteries of the elaborate patterns we see in biological and physical systems.” His collaborators include undergraduates from Harvey Mudd and Macalester Colleges.
Harvey Mudd is one of the few colleges where students have the opportunity to conduct original research in string theory and to publish their results in leading journals. “It’s very unusual to have undergraduate research in particle physics and string theory,” says Vatche Sahakian, associate professor of physics. According to Sahakian, there are just a few hundred active string theorists in the world. Because it is a niche research field, he says, it attracts few students, but those it does attract typically demonstrate extreme dedication and move into top-tier graduate programs. Gregory Minton ’08, who conducted research with Sahakian on a new approach to understanding inhomogeneities in the cosmic microwave background using string theory, was a finalist for the prestigious LeRoy Apker Award, given annually by the American Physical Society for outstanding achievement in physics by an undergraduate. Sahakian was recently awarded a continuing three-year, $90,000 grant by the National Science Foundation for his research titled “Quantum Information in Matrix Black Holes and Black Hole Horizons in String Theory.” His ongoing research explores key ideas in string theory and quantum gravity, including the accounting of information in black holes, the nature of the black hole horizon and the devel-
opment of numerical techniques to address certain fundamental puzzles arising in black hole dynamics. Undergraduate research is an integral part of the proposal, along with outreach components that aim to bring modern topics in theoretical physics to the general public in an accessible framework. The project includes a course development component for an undergraduate course on modern topics in theoretical physics, providing students with solid foundations for graduate school, and the associated preparation of an undergraduate textbook on classical field theory. A public lecture series will also be created. Sahakian’s previous NSF-funded lecture series, a humor-filled exploration of the intersection of theoretical physics and philosophy, was very well received.
SUMMER 2014
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