March 2021 - Hubble the Magazine

hubble THE MAGAZINE

HOW WE WOULDN'T EXIST WITHOUT DARK MATTER

DR. ROBIN CARTER

on his experience in STEM

MS. CATHERINE DESWARDT

on the impact of lockdown on teenagers MARCH 2021

@HUBBLETHEMAGAZINE

PAGE FIVE | JOURNEY

SOMETHING, SOMEWHERE INCREDIBLE IS WAITING TO BE KNOWN. CARL SAGAN

PAGE FIVE | JOURNEY

IN THIS ISSUE 06

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

07

SCIENCE SECTION

08

COULD WE LIVE ON MARS?

10

HOW WE WOULDN'T EXIST WITHOUT DARK MATTER

12

COVID-19 VACCINE HESITANCY

15

INTERVIEW WITH DR. ROBIN CARTER

17

MATH SECTION

18

WHY ALGEBRA IS REALLY HELPFUL

20

HOW TRIGNOMETRY HELPED US REACH THE MOON

21

THE VALIDITY OF THE GOLDEN RATIO

23

INTERVIEW WITH MR. TARUN SETH

25

ENGINEERING SECTION

26

BURJ KHALIFA AND WHY BUILDINGS DON'T FALL DOWN

28

KNITTING AND ENGINEERING

29

THE NEED FOR WOMEN IN ENGINEERING

31

TECHNOLOGY SECTION

32

AI AND EVERYDAY LIFE

34

BREAKING DOWN NANOTECHNOLOGY

36

PSYCHOLOGY SECTION

37

JOKER AND HEATH LEDGER

39

THE SCIENCE BEHIND LOVE

40

WHY DO PEOPLE JOIN CULTS?

42

INTERVIEW WITH MS. CATHERINE DESWARDT

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR As you can probably tell, we love STEM. No matter how much you hate it, it's pretty hard to deny that everything around you is influenced by it. And we think that's really beautiful. If something influences your life so much, one must learn about it. And so Hubble was born, we aim to make ideas in STEM interesting even to those who dislike it, because STEM is so much more that just learning formulas in your math class.

Welcome to the first ever edition of the Hubble magazine!

From pestering everyone to meet their deadlines, to sitting for hours editing, this edition took it all. But we are so glad it's on your screens now. So, turn the page, and start reading.

We would also like the thank the teachers who have helped us, the team at Hubble, students who submitted articles and everyone who has done a part in making this possible.

Aditi Gaur Editor-in-chief Hubble magazine

SCIENCE SECTION " S CI E NCE MAGI C

I S

T HAT

WORKS " KURT VONNEGUT

COULD WE LIVE ON MARS? Tiara Jain We’ve been messing up our home

Water is too heavy to be carried all

planet for a long time. For years,

the way from Earth. So what exactly

scientists have been trying to figure

do we do? Well, we have to find water

out if mankind could live on other

on Mars. Lucky for us, the martian soil

planets.

one

contains up to 60% water, and Mars

their

has lots of frozen water in craters and

attention as it seemed to be a perfect

underground. So essentially, if we

candidate to support life. Mars, also

were to melt all that water, we would

known as the Red Planet, is the fourth

have enough to survive. Next, we have

planet from the sun in our Solar

oxygen.

System. There are four essential needs

extremely thin; it's 100 times thinner

to survive on Earth:

food, water,

than Earth’s! It consists mainly of

shelter and clothing. These exact four

carbon dioxide, which takes up 96%

needs (along with breathable air) are

and has less than 1% oxygen .This

also needed to survive on Mars.

makes the atmosphere unbreathable,

First up, we have the most important

but we already have a solution to that.

particular

need

to

During

their

planet

survive:

search,

caught

water.

Mars’s

atmosphere

is

Scientists

believe that water once flowed on Mars, but most of it has either dried up or has been lost into space.

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08

“Moxie,”

a

machine

designed

by

Lastly, we have to find a way to

scientist Michael Hecht, takes in the

keep Mars warm and make it

martian atmosphere and converts it

more like Earth. Mars is extremely

into oxygen. Since 78% of CO2 is

cold with an average temperature

oxygen and carbon dioxide makes up

of -80º celsius. The best way to do

96% of the atmosphere, there is

this is to direct gigantic solar sails

enough oxygen to survive, and one

(which will work like mirrors) to

machine can keep one person alive

heat up the frozen CO2 on the

for as long. ext up, we have food. We’ll have to find or grow food on Mars.

Running water is essential to grow crops and we won’t be able to grow more

than

20%

of

requirements

until

we

water.

Till

then,

all

food

don’t

find

food

will

be

transported to Mars from Earth in the form of dehydrated food. We also need shelter and clothing to sustain on

Mars.

We

can

use

inflatable

north and south poles. Once the dry

ice

sublimes

atmosphere,

it

into

the

creates

the

greenhouse effect, warming up the entire planet. This should take around 20 years. While ambitious, Elon Musk seems to believe that he can take humans to Mars by 2025. Maybe one day, we will be calling Mars our home.

pressurized buildings, but this only works during the day as there is too much cosmic radiation. Fortunately, the

martian

soil

happens

to

be

perfect for making bricks out of. With polymer

plastic

and

a

microwave

oven, we can essentially create thick walls

that

can

last

long.

As

for

clothing, scientist Dava Newman has created a spacesuit that keeps us warm and protects us from solar radiation at all times.

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HOW WE WOULDN'T EXIST WITHOUT DARK MATTER Aditi Gaur

We define matter as anything that has a mass and takes up space. This is everything around you, your laptop, your desk, the food you eat and the air you breathe. Matter like this that you can see/feel, only accounts for roughly 5% of the entire universe’s matter. Around 27% of the universe is made up of dark matter, and 68% of dark energy. In this article, we’re going to dive deep into the idea of dark matter.

Dark matter is invisible, but scientists are pretty certain that it exists. When scientists were thinking about why the universe is structured the way it is, it quickly became clear that ‘normal’ matter is not all that exists. The gravity of all the visible matter in our universe simply isn’t strong enough to hold together galaxies and other structures of our universe. If normal matter was all that existed, in all likelihood, stars would have been scattered all over the place instead of being clustered together in galaxies. So, we concluded that something else exists, with high gravity helping to bind our universe together.

We also concluded that this matter didn’t emit or reflect light since we couldn’t see it. We can kind of see dark matter though. In places with a very high concentration of dark matter, light bends when it passes by, informing us of something’s existence that interacts with gravity. Right now, we have a clearer idea about what dark matter is not, compared to what it is.

We know that it’s not just normal matter minus the stars. Otherwise, it would have emitted detectable particles.

Dark matter and anti-matter are not the same either. Anti-matter, when reacted with normal matter, produces a unique gamma-ray which dark matter does not.

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Black holes also prove to not be what dark matter is made up of, since they are very compact objects that disrupt their surroundings greatly.

Meanwhile, dark matter is all over the place.

So far, we have three firm statements, something is there, it interacts with gravity and that there’s a lot of it. Dark matter will probably prove to be an exotic particle that doesn’t interact with light and matter traditionally, so we can’t understand it currently.

While we don’t understand it well right now, we know that the universe would be really different without it. The gravitational effects of dark matter affect the rotation of galaxies, and the entire structure of the universe. Its gravity allows galaxies to hold onto the raw pieces that made life and planets like Earth possible. The importance of dark matter can not only be traced back to astrological phenomenons like the rotation of galaxies but the origin of life itself.

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COVID-19 VACCINE HESITANCY IRA AHUJA When were

coronavirus shocked.

spread,

Their

many

lives

had

Philanthropist

and

Microsoft

founder Bill Gates had spoken about

changed completely, and most were

an

convinced that this epidemic could

TedTalk in 2015. That being said, the

not have been predicted. However,

gravity

many in the healthcare sector were

pandemic

almost expecting the world to face

predicted.

a pandemic in the future, mostly

schools gets nearer, how do we

agreeing

disaster

avoid masses or even any of us

proved more likely than a world war.

landing up in hospitals? In mid

After SARs (2002) and then MERs

January,

(2012), it had become evident that

coronavirus vaccine (Covishield and

the world was susceptible to and

Covaxin)

could quite likely face a pandemic.

before

In 2018, the Harvard Global Health

available, a debate started in many

Institute

that

even

a

health

held

a

upcoming or

pandemic

severeness couldn’t As

the

the

the

in

his

of

have

this been

reopening

distribution

started

at

of

India.

vaccines

of

the Even

became

pandemic

week.

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circles

on

whether

vaccines

Many predictions, data, statistics,

were safe and whether they would

and numbers floated about how

be effective. Even frontline health

effective the vaccine is. But here is

workers, doctors ,and nurses were

the no-nonsense explanation - if you

hesitant to take the shot in India.

take both doses of the vaccine, you

As the debate of whether people

may fall mildly ill if infected with

should take it or not rages on,

the virus but are less likely to fall

expert

severely ill or die of it. Dr. Mehul

opinion

the

and

healthcare

specialists are beginning to strongly

Mehta,

a

physician,

healthcare

recommend it. The discussion has

expert and currently chief medical

paved its way to the question: what

officer of Albright Stonebridge in

happens if we don't take it?

Boston

supports

vaccine

development for COVID and argues that if one takes both doses, there’s almost a 0 percent chance of them dying of COVID. The last year has only proven that this pandemic isn’t going away; even though we are adjusting to the ‘new normal’, this virus will remain. Therefore, it makes sense to get vaccinated once the opportunity arises. The more people that get vaccinated, the likelihood of

the

virus

decreases. allergic

being

Many reactions

transmitted

worry

about

they

might

experience due to the vaccine ;since it seems foreign, many tend to expect the worse. Experts argue that many people take daily medications without

even

looking

at

what

possible reactions they may have to it, simply because something is new doesn’t automatically make it bad for you.

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So far, India has been reasonably

But experts also point out that one

fortunate as far as the virus goes. Till

can’t expect the vaccine to protect

September, both cases and deaths

against death. People will still die of

were rising, and then they started

natural causes, and the vaccine is

falling. A second spike was expected

not protection against all diseases

in December- which didn’t happen.

or death. It isn’t an immortality shot,

Experts

saving you from everything that

attribute

this

to

several

reasons: a younger population, a

comes your way.

stronger collective immune system

According

(since pathogens and viruses are so

country has managed to vaccinate

common in India, almost a way of

8.4 million people in one month and

life), the fact that many in India

aims to hit 250 million by July. One

have had the BCG vaccine, and the

way or another, we are moving

fact that the Indian public has

forward, and the nation needs to

followed the government orders of

join the bandwagon. So if someone

trying to maintain social distance

asks

and using masks.

shouldn’t get the jab, the answer is

to

whether

Indiaspend,

you

the

should

or

simple: if you want to beat the virus and not land up at a hospital, your answer should be yes.

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INTERVIEW WITH DR. ROBIN CARTER Isha Maini and Vivaa Parikh

Tell us about your background in science, what you studied, where you studied and things like that.

I went to a private school in South Africa, and it was one of the first multi racial schools, and I think that’s the place my interest in science really grew. After finishing school, I went off to university, There, I studied chemistry on a scholarship, After that, I then decided to go on and get my PhD in material science and nanotechnology from Oxford.

Tell us your interest in science, how that grew and why you love it so much.

So my interest in science grew from a very young age. My father would have a lot of books around the house, books on gems and minerals and things like that. So there I was surrounded by these books on chemistry and physics.

Along with that, he had this old microscope, and I was

allowed to go play with it. We also had one of the first PC computers which I was allowed to use.

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So my dad encouraged me using thos a lot, and I think it’s a big part of my interest in science and technology. And, I was really interested in gunpowder, so that increased my interest in chemistry a lot.

What are the most interesting revelations of your career so far?

So there’s two things. One is the importance of unpredictability. It’s really important to not plan, there are these interviews where they ask 18 year olds where they see themselves in 10 years. That is the dumbest question I’ve ever heard, like come on you’re 18. One day you might be like I want to be a consulting partner at McKinsey and the other day you’ll say I’ll just go to university. My career was so unexpected, I never thought I would become a teacher, but I am one and I’m really satisfied. Next is the importance of your passion. I think what’s really cool is passion can deliver value in your life, even if you don’t completely understand its importance. I think a lot of young people have so many passions and it just gets sucked into I need to put this on my CV, this is how I need to present myself to the world. And with that, you forget that it’s your love to begin with. The fact that you love something shouldn’t get lost in how you think you should present yourself to a potential university, or an employer.

What is your advice to students who are aiming to STEM?

I think the most important thing is to understand that if you are interested in something, trust that interest and go with it. If you find yourself really interested in computers and you want to create something, go for it. Don’t try to suppress that curiosity. If you like something, go for it and see where it goes.

What do you love about being a STEM teacher?

What I love about being a STEM teacher is I get to communicate the heart of why science is so fascinating, and I use the word heart because it does have a heart in it. It is a very human thing, to be interested in the natural world. It’s not just facts and figures, it’s passion. It’s passion because it’s driven by curiosity, wanting to know more and I help to try to communicate that to young people so that’s what I love about being a STEM teacher.

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MATH SECTION " E VE RYT HI NG AROUND

YOU

NUMB E RS . " SHAKUNTALA DEVI

I S

WHY ALGEBRA IS REALLY HELPFUL Aarya Chiripal

Viewed as the enemy in middle school, algebra is hated by a lot. You often hear students complaining ‘but who even uses this?’. While we are ignorant of it, algebra has influenced a large part of our everyday lives. The word Algebra, comes from the Arabic word “al jebr” meaning reunion of broken parts. Understanding it’s relevance can be broken into two parts, The importance of it in school, and its importance in real life. Even though most don’t like it, algebra plays a defining role in Math. Almost every single topic taught middle school onwards related to it. The versatility of this topic makes it a necessity for students to learn. The resourcefulness of algebra is also important to note, it’s present in forming equations that can help you perform patterns, geometry whilst finding the lengths and angles, computer programming for generalizing a particular group of people, all types of engineering, technology and scientific research as well.

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And if none of that seems to be of interest to you, you need to be proficient in it if you wish to pass your math class. Next is the one most debated upon, Algebra and its role in daily life. While you might not see your parents engaging in this topic everyday when they wake up, many around the world have been able to accomplish great things using this, and these inventions are used by you. All future estimates an economist conducts uses algebra, for example predicting the possible GDP of a given country 2 years into the future. A field that is hugely depended upon Algebra is space exploration. While one might argue that if NASA landed it’s recent rover on a planet or not doesn’t influence their daily lives, space exploration has led to inventions used by the masses, which in turn wouldn’t have been possible without the use of algebra (and trigonometry). The Hubble Space telescope, which this magazine has been so proudly named after, wouldn’t have been created without the use of algebra. Distance between planets wouldn’t have been found, the amount of fuel needed to travel from one distance to another and more couldn’t have been calculated. A lot of small things add up to impact our daily lives greatly. Understanding the importance of Math and the beautiful it has helped us achieve might make Math class a little less boring for you.

The Hubble Space telescope, which this magazine has been so proudly named after, wouldn’t have been created without the use of algebra.

Distance between planets wouldn’t have been found, the amount of fuel needed to travel from one distance to another and more couldn’t have been calculated. A lot of small things add up to impact our daily lives greatly. Understanding the importance of Math and the beautiful things it has helped us achieve might make Math class a little less boring for you.

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HOW TRIGNOMETRY LET US GO TO SPACE Aditi Gaur

Trigonometry is a branch of science that focuses on studying the relationship between and side lengths and angles of a triangle. It is a science that is often used to determine measurements of the third angle of a triangle, along with its side length measurements. It has many real-life applications, with one of them being its help in space exploration. Here are the ways trigonometry has allowed to us to go space:

1. Distance: If astronauts are looking to calculate the distance between Earth and the celestial body they are looking to reach, say a star, trigonometry is essential. For example, if we know the distance from the earth to one star but not the other, trigonometry can be used to make a triangle using the three bodies and calculate the side length.

2. Speed: trigonometry is also used to calculate the speed at which any celestial object might be moving. If we know of an object’s speed relative to another object whose distance we also know of, then the distance between the object and the astronauts can be calculated through a fairly simple method. This helps determine how far away an object is and how long it will take to reach it.

3. Orbits: Studying a star or planet's orbit can be made much easier using trigonometry. If a star is travelling at a constant rate in relation to the Earth, its surrounding objects create equations using trigonometry to figure out the unknown.

4. Machinery: a big part of space travel is manipulating machinery in order for it to work in space. For example, rovers can go to places not deemed safe for humans to travel to yet. Controlling these rovers required a good bit of math, in which trigonometry plays a big role. In order to successfully program these machines, trigonometry must be correctly applied and understood.

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THE GOLDEN RATIO Tiara Jain

The golden ratio is a number which roughly equals to 1.618. If architecture, art, math, and geometry interest you, then you might have noticed this irrational number popping up repeatedly. To calculate the golden ratio, a line is divided into; Part A (the long part) and Part B (the short part). If Part A divided by Part B is equal to the sum of Part A and B divided by Part A, it should equal 1.618.

Formula: a/b = a+b/b = 1.618 The math behind the golden ratio is much more complicated than the one explained above. One of the main purposes of this ratio is to make a particular design look more aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Many have described it to be the perfect, more visually pleasing ratio. Some of the greatest works of art, such as Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and Pyramids of Giza, have been created using the golden ratio. This appears many times in nature as well, the petals on a flower, the human mouth and nose positionings and much more., Even the logos of Twitter and Pepsi used this ratio to look more aesthetically pleasing.

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That being said, beauty is entirely subjective. Everyone has their own opinions on different matters and there is nothing that can be labeled to be perfect. While some may believe that the golden ratio is the perfect approach to make a design more visually pleasing, many have completely discredited it. In my opinion, I believe that the golden ratio helps to make a design much more pleasing to the eye. It helps create a perfect balance which is easy for our eyes and brain to comprehend, distributing the design much easier for comprehension. From an artist’s point of view, this magic number helps in composing a design. It is almost like an instructional guide that tells us where to place what. Professor Adrian Benaj believes that it is easy for our brain to interpret the designs featuring the golden ratio compared to those which do not. He argues that our brain scans images more efficiently when moving from side to side. It subconsciously aids our brain in interpreting designs which is also another reason we find it appealing.

Repeating myself from earlier, while beauty is subjective, I am of the opinion that the golden ratio increases the appeal of a design as it helps distribute it evenly and creates a harmonic balance between the different elements of the design.

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INTERVIEW WITH MR. TARUN SETH Isha Maini and Vivaa Parikh

Tell us about your experience in school and college and why you chose that particular school/college.

My schooling took place in a very small town called Mirzapur. I studied there till grade 12. Completed my high school in 1992 and during that time, the only focus was on subjects such as physics, chemistry, mathematics and Biology. Medical and engineering studies were quite limited at that time.

There was also not much aspiration neither from my side nor from my teachers. I remember that most teachers used to just teach the concepts and go without relating it to the outer world. There weren’t many good colleges in my town so, I went to Kanpur for my graduation. That was the first time, I was exposed to the English-medium education system. At first, it was really difficult to understand various things because I was suddenly exposed to this new way of learning. I started by reading books written in English and tried to understand the terminologies. It took be around 3 to 5 months to improve and cope up with things. During the time of my graduation, the idea of computers was just being popularised and I didn’t have any understanding about them. I later realised that my inclination was more towards Mathematics. I then joined the Pantnagar University which is a renowned university near Nainital.

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Tell us about your interest in Mathematics and how you decided to be a teacher.

I think I have always been a problem solver and I feel that Math gives you an opportunity to apply your problem-solving skills to real-life situations. My father also loved Maths and so I believe that I got some inspiration from him as well. The other factor was that I used to listen to music while doing Maths which made me realise how much I enjoyed it, which consequently added to my interest in the subject. I had never really thought about a particular career. However, I knew that teaching always gave me a sense of satisfaction. Even when I was in school and college, I used to teach some of my classmates and other people in my community. After a while, I was pretty sure that I was destined to be a teacher and thus, I applied for a PHD after my post-graduation. However, I discontinued with my PHD after my first term because I got an offer in Pilani, Rajasthan. After a while I realised my passion for teaching and hence, shifted to a teaching job instead.

What is your advice to young students who aren’t interested in Mathematics?

So, I would say that the seed of Math should be planted right from one’s childhood. I feel that the primary education should be strong because it greatly influences one’s enjoyment towards a particular subject. If someone’s not interested in Math, it doesn’t mean that they are any less smart than others. It really depends on the way they are taught. Students should not think of Math as only formulas and calculations. They should dig deeper instead and look at it as an investigation and try to relate it to the outer-world which might start to interest them.

Do you have anything in general that you would want to share with our readers?

I would say that instead of limiting yourself to only books etc, you should try to search for other ways that might work better for you. You should perhaps engage yourself in various activities that can potentially lead to you learning numerous interesting things. Sometimes it is really important to just explore your surroundings and play with things without worrying about the outcome.

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ENGINEERING SECTION " DE S I GN I T

I S

HOW

WORKS " STEVE JOBS

BURJ KHALIFA AND WHY BUILDINGS DON'T FALL DOWN Manya Maheshwari

We’ve all tried to make very tall buildings with legos, books, or anything we could get our hands on. Almost always, they would collapse, either because your sibling pushed it, the base was too weak, or the wind too strong. The Burj Khalifa is currently the world’s tallest building, standing at 830 meters tall. Why hasn’t the wind blown it over yet?

Having been designed to fight the wind; the Burj Khalifa’s unique design blocks the wind around this structure, preventing whirlwinds from potentially damaging its structure. The chief structural engineer Bill Baker once said that of the ways that the Burj Khalifa can stand because of its ability to confuse the wind. He also compared the building to a “Swiss watch, with each aspect working together to combat the forces of nature such as wind, seismic, and gravity.'' It has also been described as a "giant sail" with a huge surface area against which the wind pushes against since the building is often found swaying and twisting with the wind.

Wind stress can be the culprit for numerous issues in tall structures. It can smash windows, damage the exteriors, cause leakage, cracked walls, and cause many other problems. Furthermore, it can cause disturbing, potentially nauseating swaying.

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If not managed properly, wind tension from shock waves can potentially cause the collapsing of the building. As alarming as that might sound, today’s skyscrapers have been tailored to survive the most powerful winds, ensuring that significant damage is next to impossible. It is theorized that the amount of motion expected in a building is 1/200 to 1/500 times its height. For the Burj Khalifa, this translated to 2-4 meters. While not a huge amount, it is enough to make its residents or visitors sick if they notice activity. Due to this, engineers and architects have been concerned with the vibration in the building since long.

In wind tunnels, complicated replicas of the building undergo various rounds of testing. Unlike tunnels used to test sports equipment, airplane wings are built more to replicate the changes in wind speed with height and can also successfully mimic variable wind conditions that the building might be subjected to once constructed.

The Burj Khalifa exhibits as a modern-day wonder exemplifying the architecture of modern times and technology. Being the tallest building in the world, it stands as a marvelous achievement of mankind. It symbolizes precision use of modern technology and scientific advancements, proving that a man-made structure can potentially deny wind power. For now, at least.

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KNITITNG AND ENGINEERING Isha Maini

From our grandparents' self-woven sweaters to crochet art pieces for decor, knitting plays an essential part in our lives. Knitting and crocheting as a way of making complex geometric shapes have a long and illustrious history. We may have never thought that those who crochet actually spend much time in their creation. Their creation i.e. their sweater, is actually a three-dimensional, heavily structured object made from just a single strand of yarn. This is because knitting carries with itself a certain technology that is addressed as knitting technology. This is basically the process of tying specific kinds of slip knots over and over again. First of all, there is a knitting needle used which is a hooked instrument that holds a thread or twine. The yarn in knitted fabrics follows the meandering direction, creating angular loops symmetrically above and below the mean path of the yarn. This technology helps in producing a cloth with meshes or webs of intertwining loops. The knitter adds designs for fashion and color, but fundamentally, this technology follows using the unit structure on the cloth several times. Making small changes, such as altering a couple of knot crossings, may significantly affect the mechanics of the textile. The interlocking occurs due to the relative motion between these loops, which causes stretching and elasticity. This elasticity makes our woven clothing apparel comfortable and stretchable, although the yarn used is not typically stretchy, which basically shows that the reason for it is the stitch. In other words, professional knitters are basically using precise geometries and elasticities just by changing the stitch pattern!

The science behind knitting has fascinated textile engineers and knitting enthusiasts all these years. So the next time you wear a sweater or your handy socks, be sure to give the feat of engineering the admiration it deserves!

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WHY WE NEED MORE WOMEN IN ENGINEERING Vidisha Agarwal Gender equity in engineering is an issue that calls for attention. According to stats, only 13% of engineers are women and moreover, a majority of them earn 10% less than men for the same jobs. Gender equity in the field of engineering is vital, for two main reasons. The first one being, women undoubtedly deserve the same opportunities as men, and the second one being the benefit the engineering practice will gain from better inclusion of women. Various studies have shown that even though women and men have similar capabilities, their approach and procedure to solve a certain problem can be quite distinct. In my view, both the genders have their own strengths and weaknesses and thus, their coming and working together will be greatly beneficial. Research suggests that on average, women perform better compared to men on problems that require in-depth calculations. On the other hand, men produce better results when the problem involves an instant flash.

Furthermore, psychology also proves that women are more creative and innovative than men, while men prove more diligent. In engineering, where both dedication and creativity are important, men and women working together can collectively strengthen the field. Various other studies also reflect that men are more likely to take risks while women like to remain practical. Since both qualities are crucial for engineering, a balanced gender ratio would be constructive. The shortage of female engineers is worrying because it indicates that a large amount of engineering capability is wasted.

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Additionally, I suppose that a diverse workforce will also advocate fresh ideas that could lead to transformation and development. This would also result in the recruitment of tens of thousands of innovative thinkers which would help combat global problems including climate change and renewable energy.

Gender diversity in the workplace is significant because it encourages new experiences and leads to people learning new things while simultaneously preventing things from getting monotonous. According to McKinsey, a gender-diverse workforce is 21% more likely to achieve better profitability.

However, the transformation that we are looking for isn’t just limited to hiring more women. It also involves the change in the environment of the industry.

If one wants more women to join the engineering field, it is crucial for the workplace to be an area where they feel comfortable and secure. Women need to be encouraged to go into fields of STEM since these have been male-dominated fields since forever it takes the greatest courage to choose this to be your path.

There must be equal pay for both genders so that women feel respected and the industry doesn’t stay male-dominated. Providing proper leaves when needed such as maternity leave is vital to make women feel that their needs are given due importance. To conclude everything that I have stated above, having a balanced gender ratio in the engineering field is significant because it leads to innovation, encourages creative ideas ,and is thus beneficial for the future of engineering and technology.

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TECH SECTION " I T ' S

A

NE W

E RA"

BOOTS RILEY

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AI AND EVERYDAY LIFE ADITI GAUR

Artificial intelligence seems like this foreign, super-techy, and futuristic thing that helps us make robots act like us. Some are scared of it, claiming that these robots will take over humanity, while others are excited about it. Whether you’re scared of it or are secretly convinced it's Mark Zuckerberg’s way of taking over the world, it’s too late.

Artificial intelligence already impacts your life every day, whether you realize it or not.

First off, what is it?

In the 1950s, AI was described as any task done by a machine that would require human intelligence previously by its fathers, Minsky and McCarthy. There are two broad categories of AI, narrow and general.

Narrow AI: Narrow AI is what you see all around you today, in your phones, computers, and more. They have learned to perform specific tasks without having explicitly programmed to do so. These are called narrow AI because they can only learn or be taught to perform particular tasks, unlike humans, who can learn an array of things themselves.

General AI: general AI is greatly different from narrow and is more similar to humans. It has flexible intellect and can perform a lot of different tasks. This is the AI more commonly found in movies, like The Terminator. This doesn’t exist today, but AI experts are working hard to make this a reality.

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While artificial general intelligence is far off into the future, other forms of AI are still a big part of your life today. From shopping, the ads you get, and how you surf the web are influenced a lot by AI. Here are some ways how it is a part of your everyday life: Social media: The hours you spend on Instagram daily helps them to make the ads you received better targeted. Social media platforms make a large portion of their money, allowing thirdparty businesses to run ad-campaigns on their platform. AI makes these ads more optimized for the target audience, helping the click and conversion rates higher every day.

Digital Assistants: You probably have Alexa or Google Home in your house and know it uses AI. The popularity of virtual assistants has increased exponentially in the last couple of years.

The most common of them are: Internet searches Alarms/timers Reminders Music calculations Music recommendations: Thousands of tracks are uploaded onto the big music streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify every day, but not all of them make it onto your recommended page. Based on your listening history, AI algorithms are used to determine which songs you are most likely to enjoy. Not only does this allow for users to easily find new songs, but it also gives an opportunity to small artists to go big.

E-commerce: Every time you order something from Amazon, Ai plays a part in your shopping experience. If you see an ad on Instagram for a product you’ve been looking for online, AI played a part in that. By gathering user information and third-party data, it helps you personalize your shopping experience and shows you products you’re likely to buy or click on.

While not entirely obvious, artificial intelligence plays a role in your life everyday. Some experts believe that the mass spread of AI will eventually lead to the second industrial revolution, already having made a big impact on our daily tasks. While the future of AI remains to be seen, its prevalence in your life every day can only be expected to increase.

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Breaking down nanotechnology TIARA JAIN

What is it?

How can it be used?

Simplified, nanotechnology is science, engineering,

Nanotechnology has many potential uses in various

and technology but just really, really tiny. We’re

fields. Products made with this technology will be

talking 1 to 100 nanometers here. For your

smaller, lighter, and cheaper, and they will use less

reference, one human hair is 100,000 nanometers

energy and be more efficient. This could help increase

wide. Nanotechnology involves studying matter and

manufacturing production and decrease the cost.

building devices on a molecular level. Scientists try

Nanotechnology has also been proved to be useful in

to make material at nanoscale to take advantage of

the healthcare industry. In 2005, researchers at the US

its

strength,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology used “optical

lightweightness, and more. If we zoom in, we can

tweezers” to study malaria-infected red blood cells. If

see that the regular rules of physics and chemistry

developed correctly, this technology can help enhance

that we know of don’t apply on this scale. Silk, for

drug delivery as it will help target the drugs in a slow

example, is really delicate and soft but if we were to

and controlled manner to ensure maximum efficiency.

zoom in, we would see that the molecules are

Not only will nanotechnology benefit the healthcare

cross-linked

Another

industry but also our environment. Tiny wastewater

example of this is carbon nanotubes which are 6

filters can help filter emissions from industrial plants

times lighter but 100 times stronger than steel. The

before they are released into the environment.

idea of building things on a minuscule scale first

Similarly, it could help clean up oil spills and remove

originated in physicist Richard Feynman’s talk in

oil from the sand as well. Researchers are also working

December

towards developing crops that will sustain in hostile

best

properties,

and

1959,

such

extremely

but

modern

wasn’t put into action until 1981.

as

strong.

nanotechnology

environments where there might be too much salt in the soil or not enough water. They’re controlling the genetics of the crops on a nanotechnology scale which will help them survive in such conditions.

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Do we use it currently?

It

may

sound

shocking,

but

we

already

use

nanotechnology in our everyday lives! Few products that include nanotechnology that we use everyday are sunscreen, computers, furniture, adhesives and even our clothes. Our sunscreens contain these nanoparticles called titanium dioxide and zinc oxide which help block UV rays and are also very light on our

skin.

Nanotechnology

can

also

make

our

upholstered furniture less flammable. By coating the foam

in

carbon

nanofibres,

you

can

reduce

flammability up to 35%. Recently, Intel created a computer chip that is only 10 nanometers wide. Most of the technology, such as our phones and laptops we use today, use nanotechnology. Even some of our clothes use nanotechnology if you’ve ever noticed that when you spill water on some fabrics, it forms little beads and doesn’t soak it up. This is because the cloth has been made waterproof using silica,a nanoparticle that can either be weaved in or sprayed on the fabric.

Nanotechnology almost sounds too good to be true.

Scientist Eric Drexler believes that nanotechnology might escape our hands and multiply beyond control.

Even though many researchers have discredited this belief, they are still concerned about the impacts of this new kind of technology on the environment and human health. Many activists are also worried that nanotechnology may develop faster than policymakers can make regulatory measures.

Nanotechnology could potentially revolutionize the world that we know today. It is a cheap and ecofriendly alternative to make our lives easier and possesses many benefits. Researchers and scientists are constantly working to find out more about this new technology and how it can be used and controlled to increase efficiency in our daily lives.

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PSYCHOLOGY SECTION " T HE WI DE R

B RAI N T HAN

S KY" EMILY DICKINSON

I S T HE

JOKER AND HEATH LEDGER AARYA CHIRIPAL AND VIVAA PARIKH

Many times, actors deeply connect themselves to the character they are given and the character influences them greatly. Of all the villains in film media so far, Joker proves to be one of the most iconic and enduring characters. A sadistic and criminal mastermind, Joker, has been through many traumatic incidents. This character is portrayed by Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight.

While acting, some actors perform ‘Method acting’. Developed by Stanslovski, method acting is a way of acting where the actors bring the character to life.

The actors have to research and think about any experiences they have gone through. Heath Ledger had chosen this method to portray Joker on screen beautifully.Analyzing the character, Joker is a broken man. His character development shows that his past incidents have caused him to become the man he did, a vicious criminal. Brilliant and quick at coming up with criminal ideas, his face and makeup act as a mask.His big lipstick grin keeps him happy, while the character is completely shattered and empty inside.

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After the filming of The Joker, Heath Ledger became mentally unstable. He was in a state where he no longer separated his real-life from the fictional life. Why Heath Ledger became attached to Joker and if his untimely death is connected to his performance in the movie or not is a heavily debated topic. During the film’s making Ledger locked himself up in a hotel room to prepare for the character. He researched and practiced for almost a month, and by the time he got out he had already sunk into the realm of psychopathic tendencies. While performing method acting, the idea of Joker had affected his brain, taking a toll on him mentally and physically, eventually making Ledger suffer from insomnia and depression. Once an actor becomes greatly attached to a role, they may require up to a year to come out of it, and some actors undergo psychological therapy.

Ledger had shut himself from the world. This icon of an actor passed away on 22nd January 2008 due to an overdose of drugs, creating history.

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WHY DO PEOPLE JOIN CULTS? Vidisha Agarwal

A cult is a social group or movement that consists of people with unique beliefs or shared interests in a specific idea, personality, or purpose. A common misconception is that cults are only limited to religion, while various political and therapeutic cults exist as well. Some cults have proven to be extremely lethal in the past, like Heaven’s Gate (1997) that ended with 39 people committing suicide. Cults usually require a rigorous dedication from their members and assure to provide answers to some of life’s deepest questions.

Today, the word cult implies an overwhelming amount of devotion.

So now, the question is: Why do people even join cults? Some research shows that many people join cults to find answers and solutions to problems that they aren’t able to figure out. Humans desire clarity, and so they join cults in order to get solid answers to questions that aren’t provided in our everyday lives. The Germans joined the Nazis before WW2 in hope of obtaining answers to Germany’s problems. Psychology also shows that at times, people who aren’t able to connect with others easily join cults to receive a sense of belonging and find other people with similar interests and views. Research over the years also shows that people with low self-esteem are more likely to join cults. The reason being that cults are easily able to make them believe that it will provide them with the support system that they have been looking for for a long time.

Cults have generally been proven to take advantage of people with low selfconfidence and try to please them which tricks them into believing that this is the only place they will find love and acceptance. Another big reason people join cults is to find a purpose in their life. When people are not in a successful stage of their life and often start wondering about their purpose and worth, they are drawn towards joining cults. This is because they believe that cults can provide them with a new purpose and meaning to life. Cults are generally shown as groups that encourage self-growth. As a result, people who have been trying to better themselves, are attracted to joining them. However, various instances from the past and the present show that a lot of these cults aren’t always as positive and healthy as they portray themselves to be.

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THE SCIENCE BEHIND LOVE Aarya Chiripal

Characters are seen falling in love in film all the time, but the cause of this emotion is never shown. Love is one of the powerful emotions to exist, and it has science behind it. A biochemical reacton is involved in the process of love. And no, it’s not the love potion from Harry potter. For females, the key hormone is oxytocin, and for males it is vasopressin. This is ‘the love hormone’. The same hormones; Oxytocin and Vasopressin are involved in this process of caring for a family member; females are helped to bear the pain of childbirth and perform breastfeeding while in males the hormone helps support activeness and attention required for guarding a partner or territory and it helps enhance their fight or flight response as well.

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Young, a researcher at Yerkes National Primate research center at Emory University in Atlanta studied rodents called prairie voles. They are mammals who mate for life unlike 95% of this classification. He wanted to find the reason for the ultimate bond the partners in love share, as to how unlike most of the mammals they stick together and raise a family until death.

What he found was the involvement of hormones and a vast biochemical reaction. He also found as mentioned above that the hormone involved here was called Oxytocin for females and Vasopressin for males meaning that mankind now had identified a specific species of mammals that potentially shared the process of feeling the emotion of love.

Young began to study these creatures a lot more and came across this conclusion, “We can take a prairie vole female, inject her with oxytocin, and she’ll bond with whatever male is around,”. As unethical as this sounded, it was a great leap for human development meaning that if love could have been created with a simple injection of oxytocin many advancements could take place. In conclusion, it is pretty clear that love is a vast biological and chemical reaction and isn’t simply a social potion that attracts two individuals. Complete research hasn’t really been done on this topic and so all we know is that in the next few decades people could be falling in love with each other simply on the basis of science and a mere injection of a chemical.

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INTERVIEW WITH MS. CATHERINE DESWARDT Isha Maini and Vivaa Parikh

Tell us about your background in science, what you studied, where you studied and about your career.

I went to a high school in Zimbabwe. I had always been interested in Psychology, and so after high school, I went to Durham University in the UK. There I did an undergraduate degree in Psychology. While I was in university, I felt that I was too young to be a psychologist and had not experienced enough in life. So, I always enjoyed working with people and decided to explore more in that path and so trained as an English and Drama teacher. That's something that people don't know about me. I actually have a lot of experience with Drama and have directed more than 30 plays. So, I got my first teaching job in Mexico City, where I taught both IB English and Theatre Arts. While I was in Mexico, I was in a violent armed robbery and kidnapping incident, and as a result of that, I experienced some PTSD symptoms. For this, I saw a therapist to recover from my own traumatic experience and this helped me get over it. This experience changed my vision and restored my faith in psychology and what it can do for people. After this, I worked with groups of young people to use Theatre of the Oppressed to help underprivileged teenagers in Mexico City. At this time, I became very interested in the link between Drama and Psychology.

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I then went on to do my Master's in Clinical Psychology in Cape Town in South Africa. I went there because it was a good course and because of the focus in working with disadvantaged communities and with trauma, and I was very passionate about the same. After completing my education, I worked at Johannesberg Maximum Security Prison in South Africa and dealt with aggression management and helping people control their violence for murderers, sex offenders, rapists, pedophiles, substance abuse etc. In this job, I used to conduct risk assessments and write reports for the parole board, to assist them in making decisions about whether offenders could be granted parole or not. When I got married and moved to England, I upgraded my qualifications to get my registration as a Clinical Psychologist in the UK and worked in forensic psychiatric hospitals there for five years.

After our children were born , I moved back to Zimbabwe and took some time off work. I always worked with young people, whether it was young criminals, teaching, or in psychiatric hospitals. After having children, I decided that I wanted a calmer life with less exposure to violent offenders and so I started working in schools as a School Counselor. So, I worked as a High School Counselor and had another job as a consultant psychologist with an organization that was rehabilitation for people with trauma as a result of state sponsored violence and torture. There I would train and supervise the lay counselors to work with people who were victims of organized violence. After that, I came to Woodstock, where I've been working here ever since.

Why Psychology? What about Psychology attracts you?

I think I really love understanding the workings of the human mind and find it very interesting. Even when I was working with people who had committed violent crimes, I never felt judgemental of the person. I found it interesting to explore what had caused them to commit these crimes because often people have terrible lives or childhoods, which is why they are led to be like this and commit crimes like this. It made me realize that it’s not monsters who commit terrible crimes, just normal people who’ve made choices that made them go down a particular path. So yes, that’s what interests me in psychology. It’s about helping people and connecting with people, and fascination with how the mind works and theories on the mind. Even when students at Woodstock come to me with their problems or struggles, it’s the same discovery path where I try to work collaboratively with students to explore the roots of their difficulties and exploring patterns of symptoms or behaviors. I find working in this way rewarding.

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What do you think about the impact of Covid-19 and lockdown on teenagers?

There's a lot of ongoing research about the impact of Covid-19 on teenagers. We know as psychologists that a primary need that teenagers or adolescents have is a peer- connection and social interaction. This is an essential developmental need.

Because of the lockdown, teenagers are at home, trying to study independently, so there's been a massive decrease in meeting this need for social interaction. The research shows that the teens feel isolated and alone as a result of this reduced interaction. And the interesting part about all this is that, and this is also the part that they're still figuring out, is that the isolation is affecting cognitive domains like concentration and memory. Therefore, the pandemic has not just impacted teenagers' emotions but instead affects their brains as well. That's why students feel as if they can't study on zoom, can't understand what's going on in their exam, etc. Also, isolation and loneliness are linked to anxiety and lead to more extreme mental health symptoms. Many teens also feel socially anxious to go back to school. They feel awkward about readjusting to a new social context even though they don't like online school. Many families have experienced loss and illness and so young people are also dealing with grief and anxiety about medical and health issues. Some families may have experienced financial problems, marital problems, stress about stigma, and not just the fear of the actual illness itself. All of these factors have added to the burden on our young people.

Due to the implications of the lockdown, what would your advice be to people suffering or being behind in class due to too much stress?

Having a good routine is very important. This will help in the production of positive hormones like serotonin and dopamine levels and help to stabilize them. Studying all day, will lead to burn-out so it is important to include things you enjoy doing like hobbies. Building exercise into your routine will help a lot. If there's any way you can go outside and get natural light and air in the morning, you should do that. Limit the sources of negative news that you listen to in a day. Try and restrict the time when you listen to this information to a set predictable time each day. If you expose yourself to constant terrible news stories about the pandemic it is likely to raise your anxiety and interfere with your ability to concentrate. You will feel overwhelmed. And talk to your friends - don’t just follow them on social media!

Turning off your phone at night is also important, this will help you get a good night’s sleep. If you don't feel good during this time, you can always come and talk to us! Ms. Binu and I are both available for you guys. We have been doing Zoom Counselling for the past year and are now doing a combination of Zoom and live sessions. Arrange a meeting by either emailing us or visit the well-being site and book it with us. Reaching out for help is a sign of strength!

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EDITOR IN CHIEF / ADITI GAUR ASSOCIATE EDITOR / ISHA MAINI DESIGNER / ADITI GAUR TEACHER SUPERVISOR / MR. HARSH BAJAJ CONTRIBUTORS / AARYA CHIRIPAL ISHA MAINI MANYA MAHESHWARI MISHA GUPTA TIARA JAIN VIDISHA AGARWAL VIVAA PARIKH

SPECIAL THANKS / DR. ROBIN CARTER MR. TARUN SETH MS. CATHERINE DESWARDT MS. ERIN WILSON MS.VIMMI DANG

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