SciX Issue 1

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The Universe is made up of two things: Atoms and Stories.

VOLUME I ISSUE NO. 1

MATTER

“For as long as you occupy space and have mass, you matter.”

THE UNIVERSE IN

ATOMS You’ve probably already wondered how big our universe is. Well, let my enthusiasm for Astronomy tell you that the answer to that is still unknown.

The observable universe can only be discerned as far as our planet, the Solar System, the Milky Way Galaxy, up to an infinite number of galaxy clusters beyond. Yet, all of these only occupy a tiny portion of our Cosmos as a lifetime is not enough to study and discover its unknown parts because of its apparent incalculability. But discovering the tiniest, indivisible particle that comprise our surrounding is otherwise feasible.

In fact, we already have a name for it.

It’s called the Atom.

Everything physical that surrounds you is considered as objects. And such objects are made up of tiny pieces of stuff, much tinier than you can see with the naked eye. It is as simple as this SciX being made up of articles that are made up of paragraphs that are made up of sentences that are made up of words that are made up of letters. But when we become scientific, this newsletter will just become a collection of sheets

of paper, meaning that it is a solid material. And when time comes that you cut this paper into something as small as you possibly can, it will become indivisible. Once it does, in the science world, it will become the Atom.

An atom is the smallest particle of the element that retains the element’s properties. It is the building blocks for everything in the universe, including ourselves. We often

think of atoms as the smallest possible forms of matter. But even smaller particles make up atoms.

Take note that everything in our universe should always be balanced. And atoms— which is, again, basically in everything—already did their part for that.

See, each atom has a dense center called the Nucleus. It contains neutrons which have a neutral electric charge and

INFOGRAPHIC: OUR COSMIC ADDRESS

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protons which are positively charged. The number of protons in an atom determines an element’s physical properties.

No two elements, say, Oxygen and Carbon, have the same number of protons. Revolving around the nucleus like planets around the Sun are negatively charged particles called Electrons. Protons and Electrons attract each other so atoms usually have equal numbers of the two particles.

MATTER

“Don’t trust Atoms. They make up everything.”

UNITED THEY STAND We know for a fact that it is frustrating when a good number of people call our attention when in fact, it is impossible for us to be in many places at once. Atoms, however, do not experience the same thing since they occupy every space in every matter that exists around us. Yes, they don’t leave a space.

So, how do they do it?

Think of a magnet as an example. We all know that magnets attract because of their opposite poles, the north and south.

That's basically the same thing with atoms.

Electrons that revolve around the Nucleus carry a negative electric charge, and protons carry a positive charge.

Since they are opposite to each other, they have an attraction between them, making electrons hold into orbits. And when atoms come together, they share electrons in their outer layer to form a bond.

And when countless number of atoms combine, they start to make up everything visible and invisible.

OUR UNIVERSE AS AN ATOM? There's a scene in the movie "Men in Black" (MIB) where in some distant world, two huge alien children are playing with marbles wherein the galaxies in our universe are all in just one of those marbles.

There have been lots of conspiracies about our universe being an atom of a matter—that our universe is one among many things that make up something. At this point, you've probably already wondered if it really is possible, right? Well, it's probably not.

This is basically because it is still impossible to deter-

Atoms, as seen from an Electron Microscope.

A type of microscope that uses a beam of electrons to create an image of the specimen.

It is capable of much higher magnifications and has a greater resolving power than a light microscope, allowing it to see much smaller objects in finer detail.

mine the size of our universe with any accuracy. As far as scientific knowledge goes, nothing can be inside of an atom as they do not have distinct boundaries in order for something to be inside of it. And our universe, as we know it, is really huge so we can't consider it as an atom.

However, scientific discussions have actually considered the idea of our universe being part of something bigger and several new theories have explained that our universe may be part of a bigger universe.

For the meantime, we could always go back to that scene in MIB and wonder: could it really be going on?

WHAT'S DEAL?

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Believe it or not, there are still people who are skeptical about scientific concepts like the atom because they simply do not care about it.

But what they probably do not know is that if it wasn’t for atoms, there wouldn’t be such thing as mass. And mass is some-

ELECTRON ORBIT thing everything needs, such as this paper. If paper didn’t exist, then this newsletter couldn’t have been printed. If this newsletter had never been printed,

then SciX would cease to exist. But seriously, it makes you realize that collective efforts of small things help produce a big change.■

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C GENERAL S

IENCE

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GENERAL S

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GENIUSES OUT OF BOUND Has the possibility of students becoming scientists even though they flunked their grades, chose a different path, or they got expelled from school ever occurred to you? Well, believe it or not, it is possible.

Nobody truly knows the secret ingredient to the concoction of how to become a scientist. Nonetheless, having great intelligence or constant good grade are also not options to be one. Such was the case for genius Florencio Medina, Sr, the father of nuclear research in the Philippines. He was very poor in mathematic in 4th grade that he had spent one summer with his father to sharpen his skills.

However, this did not stop him as he eventually became a top-notcher in his class.

He also became a professor, an advocate of mental math, and the first head of the Philippine Atomic Energy Commission, an institution known today as the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute.

FLORENCIO MEDINA, SR.

ALBERT EINSTEIN Albert Einstein also didn’t do much in his classes. He was even called a lazy dog who never bothered about mathematics at all by his teachers. He disliked being told of what to do and doing the thing that everybody elese does. He hated schoolwork, but he soon found great interest in math when one of his relatives gave him algebra books.

In 1894, he was expelled from school because he rebelled against his teachers.

e=mc²

ISAAC NEWTON Sir Isaac Newton did not like going to school and the lessons being taught in it. He actually studied for a degree in law as he owned more books on historical subjects than on science. He did not fail his subjects, but he also did not standout in any of them. He was more interested in how the world worked and eventually, he devised the laws on gravitation and motion by observing a falling apple.

THOMAS ALVA EDISON Thomas Alva Edison, the inventor of many electrical devices, particularly the light bulb, was forced to leave school because he was too inquisitive and his mind often wandered. He also did not believe anything that his teachers would say unless it had already been tested and saw it for himself. He was homeschooled by his mother.

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Truly, there is no perfect road for a person’s dream. However flawed or rickety the journey is, you should remember these geniuses who went outside their boundaries and made their own path to achieve their goals. Because simply, failure is an option when you are ready to give up.

SCI-PI Surely or perhaps everyone is aware that everything is yet to be discovered. However, through thousands of years, Sci-Pi or science pieces have been connected despite its complexities; creating astounding facts and ideas about our world:

SCI-PI # 1 In the human body, fingernails grow faster than toenails.

Our heart beats about 100,000 times each day. Your foot is about the same length as the distance between your elbow and wrist. The saliva you produce in your lifetime could fill nearly 30,000 water bottles!

SCI-PI # 2 It is not the female seahorse who lays eggs and give birth to its babies! During mating, it is the male seahorse who gets the eggs using its front opening called brood pouch.

Inside, the eggs are fertilized and will be incubated. The male becomes pregnant for several weeks until the brood hatches and burst out fully formed, miniscule seahorses.

SCI-PI # 3 The plastic used in contact lenses is called Etalficon. It can attract the proteins in human tears and gets incorporated into the lens. This makes the lens stay on the eye and be comfortable for wearing. Etafilcon also has similar functions to some cosmetics’ components, wherein these electrically attract and stick to the face’s skin.

SCI-PI # 4 In 1998, phone companies Ericsson, Nokia, Intel, Toshiba and IBM founded the Bluetooth, as a replacement for cable tech! It’s named after the Danish King, Harald Blatand I as an inspiration, because he helped united Scandinavian Europe at the time when the region he also brough Christianity to Scandinavia. A Bluetooth is tiny radio chip in computers, printers, and cellphones that transmit information.

SCI-PI # 5 Do you truly know what a blue moon is? The term can be misleading because it only refers to the second full moon of a calendar month.

Nonetheless, in 1999, there have been two blue-colored moons that appeared, one in January and the other was in March. There has also been an occurrence in August 2012 and the most recent was on July 31, 2015.

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MATTER

AN OVERVIEW TO PLASMA: T

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Back in the days, where science was still so simple for us students, we only have three states of matter: solid, liquid, and gas. But as time went on, they added another basic state of matter, the Plasma.

By now, you should already have an idea about electrons and positively-charged particles called cations. Because plasma is a state of matter that consists of these two.

With the two combined together, plasma has neither a specific shape nor a consistent volume. In other words, plasma can easily flow into things, say a container, and take the shape of it as it expands, redistributing itself to evenly fill that container, like a plasma ball. (See image below for reference).

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Although the properties of plasma are similar to those of gases, plasma and gases are not the same thing. In plasma, electrons are released from their orbits around a nucleus, creating a “soup” of free electrons and nuclei. Because these charged particles are loose, plasma easily conducts electricity and both produce and respond to magnetic fields.

Plasma is created when the gas is either exposed to a high temperature or when high-voltage electricity is passed through it.

The heat or electricity makes the atoms in the gas moves so quickly and collide so violently with one another that electrons are kind of being thrown out of their orbits.

Because of the way they are creat-

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ed, plasmas are sometimes called ionized gases. Although plasma isn’t discussed as often as solids, liquids, and gases and once the last phase of matter discovered, you’re probably more familiar with plasma than you think.

Plasma gives the neon and fluorescent lights their glow; is formed during lightning strikes,; and of course is present in plasma televisions. We can also classify fire as a plasma. Plasma makes up our sun and is visible in the solar flares that erupt from a surface. Because plasma is the stuff of stars, it is the most common state of matter making up about 99 percent of the observable universe.

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ACROSS 1. Roman Zeus 2. Can’t live without it 4. Father of Biology 7. Deepest trench 8. Indivisible particle 9. Periodic Table of Elements 10. Atomic number 1 12. Universal solvent 14. Ground movement 15. Fourth state of matter 18. Science etymology 19. Middle Earth DOWN

Problems in this crossword puzzle are a mixture of various difficulties from general science knowledge. Let’s break the ice by answering these 20 set of clues!

3. Percentage of sea discovered 5. Discovered the Atom 6. Terra 8. Nearest neighbor galaxy 11. Periodic table 13. Tallest mountain 16. North star 17. Nearest star

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About A glance at a certain object will make us think of the obvious about its aesthetic. A deeper glance will make us see and think of the Atom, its discovery and how it led us to believe everything seen and unseen around the inner and outer space. That regardless of size, if combined together, make up a greater whole: the mainstream marvel—the Universe and everything that lies within. Just like Atoms, words also play a vital role in the embodiment of our universe. Without the words of the likes of J.J. Thomson, we would not have something to live and ponder on each day of our lives.

SciX is a science journal dedicated to freshmen high school students. It is the brainchild of 19-yearold John Cyril Yee, a senior Journalism student of Bicol University College of Arts and Letters. He is the creator of almost everything visible and invisible within the premises of this journal.

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