RES NOVAE MONTA VISTA HIGH SCHOOL | FEBRUARY 2021 | VOLUME VI ISSUE II
03 PSYCHOLOGY
Explaining political polarization through psychology
TABLE OF CONTENTS february newsletter
03 PSYCHOLOGY
ONE COUNTRY, TWO COLORS BY ANGELA ZHANG
RES NOVAE STAFF 2020-2021 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Riya Ranjan LEAD EDITOR Fiona Luo
05 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
TRANSFORMING CARBON DIOXIDE INTO USABLE MATERIALS BY MIKA KATO
SECTION EDITORS Ritu Atreyas Malavika Eby VISUALS LEADS Fiona Luo Jannah Sheriff Jennifer Zhao DESIGN LEAD Marvin Wu VISUALS TEAM Piyush Shanbhag Divya Venkataraman Angela Zhang TREASURER Nika Zamani STAFF WRITERS Ananya Dua, Avani Durve, Eric Feng, Mika Kato, Aishwarya Manoj, Shreya Mantripragada, Shalini Rao, Arnav Rathee, Angelina Alex Roopa, Piyush Shanbhag, Anika Sharma, Samhita Srivatsan, Divya Venkataraman, Angela Zhang ADVISER Kyle Jones Cover and Page Design by Marvin Wu
07 SCIENCE FICTION
STOLEN HEART BY ARNAV RATHEE
ABOUT US
Res Novae is Monta Vista’s student run STEM publication. Every month, we publish news, opinion, and science fiction articles on mvresnovae.org. We answer questions ranging from “How have MVHS students contributed to cancer research?” to “Can intelligent robots cook my dinner for me?”
ONE COUNTRY, TWO COLORS Explaining political polarization through psychology BY ANGELA ZHANG
O
n Wednesday, Jan. 6, a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building to overturn his election defeat, clearly displaying America’s deep political divide to the world. Now more than ever, our country is split between red and blue. Instead of focusing on the true quality of government, the focus of many voters is protecting their political identities as Democratic or Republican. This divide is termed as political polarization, where political attitudes lean towards two extremes of the spectrum. Polarization in America is the highest it has been in 20 years. Experts have attributed many causes to this, including partisan media and even gerrymandering. However, one simple cause that many overlook is people’s basic psychological tendencies. POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY THEORIES Social Identity Theory According to Chris Federico, a political psychologist at the University of Minnesota, the social identity theory may explain America’s growing divide. This theory proposes the tendency for people to associate who they are with the group they’re
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PSYCHOLOGY
a part of. “You like members of that group more than others. You want things to reflect favorably upon your group. You’re biased toward believing things that reflect positively on your group,” Federico told the American Psychology Association. “Once you’re a member of a group, all kinds of group processes related to social identity kick in.” Another important aspect of social identity theory is the ‘us’ and ‘them’ concept. Henri Tajfel was an important social psychologist who developed the social identity theory and cognitive aspects of prejudice. He claims that people tend to exaggerate differences between groups (them) and overstate similarities between members of the in-group (us). A hypothetical line of thought that demonstrates this is as follows: we, as members of this political party, are much more educated and smarter than the other party. All of us hold college degrees, while all of them are high school dropouts. This statement is not actually politically accurate, since there is clearly a range of educational backgrounds in both parties. However, this unifying mindset is still prevalent within society today. As a result, people are likely to
disregard everything associated with the other party to maintain their own identity. Senior Ellie Kim shares the same thoughts. “A repercussion I see from having polarization is that no matter what the policy the candidate is running, you see a Democratic or Republican Party,” Kim said. “Whichever one…you are surrounded by, you immediately choose that candidate and I think that that’s very damaging.” According to an article by DeWit, Linden, and Brick from the Greater Good Science Center in Berkeley, studies have shown that the labeling of a policy as Democratic or Republican greatly affects people’s support for the policy, regardless of what they actually believe in. One study in particular showed that although most Republicans believe climate change is real, they were less inclined to support climate policies that were proposed by Democrats. Motivated Reasoning Similar to the social identity theory, another cognitive phenomenon that greatly affects our political system is motivated reasoning. Motivated reasoning is people’s tendency to warp the information they’re presented with to fit their existing beliefs. It can also describe how
people are more likely to believe statements that confirm what they already think and dismiss ones that contradict their beliefs. Thus, motivated reasoning reinforces people’s existing political biases and polarizing opinions. When interviewed about their opinions on political polarization, Cupertino City Council members Hung Wei and Jon Wiley expressed insightful views regarding people’s narrow mindset. Wei described how social media greatly reinforces people’s motivated reasoning, subsequently exacerbating the political divide. “When people do social media, because they don’t see each other, they tend to collect information that fits what they think, or fits what they already know,” Wei said. “So they kind of feed on each other, so it’s very hard to be open minded to other perspectives.” In addition, Wiley revealed that he observed political polarization on both a national and local level. Even for issues of housing and infrastructure development in Cupertino, people are often heavily divided. Affective Prejudice As people become more extreme in their beliefs and polarization strengthens, resentment between parties also increases. When these negative feelings become more intense and vehement, it is called affective prejudice by psychologists. This is where people attach feelings of dislike towards certain groups and harbor strong feelings of personal resentment towards all that share opposing opinions. By incorporating an emotional aspect into politics, the divide between parties is deepened. A 2020 paper from PhD authors Berg, Hameiri and Bruneau, described, “Affective prejudice is thus associated with intentions and behaviors that favor the ingroup over the outgroup, and may fuel a desire for social distance from outgroup others that prevents bipartisan cooperation.” Dehumanization This prejudice can even go a step further to become dehumanization, a psychological process where people redefine the outgroup to lose
human qualities and become almost animalistic. Even though most Americans likely would not believe that they dehumanize the opposing party, this tendency may still exist in people’s minds either with or without their awareness. According to Erin C. Casse from the University of Delaware, in 2016 election, “These kinds of comments were also directed at the candidates’ supporters, with Clinton referring to Trump supporters as ‘a basket of deplorables’ and Donald Trump Jr. saying of Democrats: ‘To me, they’re not even people.’” When political figures demonize their opponents, the likelihood of political violence among ordinary citizens also increases. “This research has found that blatant dehumanization is clearly relevant between political partisans on both sides of the ideological spectrum,” Berg wrote, “who attribute more animalistic traits to political outgroup members and explicitly view political outgroups as less than fully human.” SOLUTIONS The issue of political polarization has been rooted in American society for centuries, but it has intensified in the last few years. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel. To counter the polarized media in America, senior Sathvika Musavathy shared the steps that she will take to develop her own opinions. “I will definitely do my research and look at policies instead of blindly doing what the crowd is doing,” Musavathy said. “Instead of just blindly accepting what everyone’s saying, looking into what they’re
saying and what they stand for is important.” In addition, Wei emphasized the importance of face-to-face interaction to bring people together and bridge the deep political divide. “As an elected official, what I tell people is that I would love to hear opposing perspectives,” Wei said. “And I found that after zooming, the hostility is much, much lessened. So I believe personal touch is very important in communicating.” This sort of face-to-face conversation is known in psychology as intergroup contact. Instead of seeing the other party as a collective “other”, people are able to see them as humans and gain a new perspective. Especially now, these sort of solutions are necessary to mend America’s increasingly hostile political climate. In light of the recent storming of the Capitol building, Wiley stated that communication was key. “If only we can take that back to Washington before Wednesday and say ‘Look everybody, talk! Share! Be respectful,’” Wiley said. “As a country [open communication is] what the world admires about the United States.” By looking at America’s current political state, political polarization seems to be strengthening with no way back. Nevertheless, by remembering that these issues actually stem from people’s basic psychology, America can take steps to rebuild itself on the basis of compromise, open-mindness, and sharing.
DISTRIBUTION OF AMERICAN POLITICAL VALUES MEDIAN DEMOCRAT
consistently liberal
MEDIAN REPUBLICAN
mixed
consistently conservative RES NOVAE
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TRANSFORMING CARBON DIOXIDE INTO USABLE MATERIALS How is chemistry contributing to the fight against climate change?
BY MIKA KATO
W
hat happens every time someone turns on the lights? The electricity turns on! The greenhouse gases which power this phenomenon aren’t visible and thus may not seem prominent in our daily lives, but our modern lifestyle is creating an everincreasing amount of emissions. The United States Environmental Protection Agency, also known as the EPA, reports a shocking 90% increase in global emissions from 1970, with 78% of the pollutants created by fossil fuel combustion. Corresponding to the statistic, energy required for electricity and transport dominates the emissions by making up a whopping 73.2% of the total sum. “As a student in high school, I worry about how life might change for those who are still in school, learning and preparing to be adults in the future,” says MVHS freshman Crystal Cheng, “I think climate change will change the way we will have to live our lives later on, and our lifestyles may be very different than what we are used to now.” Despite these statistics providing Americans with the daunting fear of changing life as they know it, research for providing solutions to the emissions problem is on the rise. Javier Garcia Martinez, a professor of inorganic chemistry and a director of the Nanotechnology Laboratory at the University of Alicante, presents the latest invention to combat this issue, in which photovoltaic solar cells create energy to perform chemical reactions that turn carbon dioxide into usable chemicals. How do these chemical reactions happen, and to what extent will they help the everlasting fight against climate change?
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HOW DOES IT WORK? There are four different types of approaches when it comes to converting carbon dioxide into other chemicals: biophotosynthetic, photothermal, microbial-photoelectrochemical, and photovoltaic. Combinations of these types can also be utilized to decouple, or get rid of, several steps involved in each type and use more reactants in one device. The process of turning carbon dioxide into other chemicals is “very similar to photosynthesis in plants,” says Dr. Joel Ager, an adjunct professor of the Materials Science and Engineering Department at UC Berkeley and a staff scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. “Water is oxidized into oxygen and the resultant electrons, boosted in energy by light, are used to convert CO2 to more reduced
molecules—for example: ethanol, ethylene, as opposed to glucose made by the natural process.” In order to operate these chemical reactions, electricity is required. While any energy source can power the machines, scientists discovered how to transform solar power to be as carbon neutral as possible. In addition, the machines themselves run continuously until the photocatalysts can no longer react. “Best demonstrations in the field thus far are a few 1000 hours of continuous operation,” Ager adds, indicating that the photocatalysts can last for multiple days at a time until they are replaced. WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS? In recent years, though, a new plan to California recently announced its goal to reduce carbon emissions to the equivalent of 1990 levels by
2030, which also means reducing saved annually if the cheapest 500 annual emissions from 14 tons to 10 GW of existing coal were replaced tons per person. With this ambitious with solar and wind sources, proving announcement comes drastic action that renewable energy is becoming required to meet this goal. The idea more economically sustainable as of getting rid of carbon emissions time passes. Additionally, even solar and using that to create sustainable power is now cheaper than many materials has been widely sought other renewable energy sources. For after, with a variety of different example, the Vibrant Clean Energy labs working towards the same dataset states that the majority of goal. One of the reasons behind coal plants fall between $33 and why the invention is so sought- $111 megawatt-hours while solar after is because the products of the production costs $28 to $52. reactions provide usable materials. Additionally, prior statistics only For example, ethanol is an effective convey the pure cost of making solvent in paint, lacquers, and electricity; they don’t include the varnish, and can also be used to costs involved with reversing the create household cleaning products. detrimental effects caused by Despite the electricity requirements carbon dioxide. Not only is investing for the chemical reactions, utilizing in renewable energy expensive, solar energy decreases the amount the price increases as time passes. of carbon being released, which However, putting it off will create means the machine requires a larger detrimental results in the long run. In intake of carbon dioxide than it emits. 2012, the International Energy Agency Rachel Sheinberg, a current P.h.D estimated the cost for switching to student studying at the Institute of low carbon energy was $36 trillion. the Environment and Sustainability However, the 2014 estimate was $8 at the University of California, Los trillion more expensive, amounting Angeles describes the effects of solar to $44 trillion. The Intergovernmental energy. Panel on Climate Change, also known “The cool thing about solar panels as the IPCC, reports that holding off compared to wind turbines and water on transitioning to carbon-friendly is that there aren’t energy could a lot of moving increase costs by cool thing about 40% if climate parts.” Sheinberg “The said. “For small solar panels compared to change is left solar for people’s untreated and the individual roofs wind turbines and water carbon emissions is easy to install, is that there aren’t a lot overpass 50% but a big solar increase by 2030. plan, big dams, of moving parts. For small big wind turbines, solar for people’s individual FUTURE require a lot of IMPROVEMENTS permits and that roofs is easy to install, but There is still requires a lot of a big solar plan, big dams, much progress money.” being made big wind turbines, require to improve the THE COST and a lot of permits and that efficiency One of the safety of the greatest factors requires a lot of money.” new invention. considered when The solar energy i m p l e m e n t i n g UCLA DOCTORAL STUDENT for powering a zero-emission RACHEL SHEINBERG the chemical solution is reactions requires the economic cost. Fortunately, ultraviolet light. However, ultraviolet photovoltaic solar costs are light is rare, making up only 5% of constantly declining, with power light, and it is also dangerous to generation costs falling 82% humans due to an increased risk between 2010 and 2019, according of skin cancer upon prolonged to the International Renewable exposure. To fix this predicament, Energy Efficiency. The organization scientists are currently working to also conveys that $23 billion will be create catalysts that react to visible
light, which is more abundant and relatively harmless for people as well. Efficiency of the photocatalysts is also rapidly increasing over the years. A single silicon Photovoltaic cell can achieve a power conversion efficiency of 26.7%, with multijunction silicon cells being more than 47.1% efficient, while the prices for the cells continue to decrease. Although this may not seem like very high percentages, wind turbines are 30 to 45% efficient according to Good Energy (a British renewable electricity company), and coal has an average efficiency of 33%. After the discovery of photoinduced reduction of carbon dioxide, the topic has been popular with many researchers, with the number of research papers published on the subject matter increasing by three-fold over the past six years. Big academic laboratories such as the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis, the Sunrise consortium and the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion are all working towards solar chemical research to build on this recent discovery. As more research is built up over the years to improve efficiency, hopefully, they will be put into industrial use.
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he old man had come to collect the body he was owed. The sound of his frame subtly clanking across marble floors was his child’s death knell, simultaneously silent and an allconsuming roar. His child heard, and his child feared. It was not a strong fear, but a small, empty one, as silent and loud as his father’s steps. The creature he called his father appeared at the door, a silhouette, gilded in steel of red and gold, marred by the occasional occurrence of flesh. The child felt small, the way he had felt when he was young, when this same creature before him was less machine than man. The same silhouette would appear, simultaneously hulking and skinny, his limbs spindly, his shoulders broad. Metal had faithfully recreated his figure. His face was not done the same service. Two eyes, youthfully blue but dull with age, stood proud and afraid in a sea of crimson that had enveloped the man’s visage. He had no mouth, no nose. His ears were neutered, small lumps that had shriveled with age and surgery. “It’s time, child.” His boy was a warped mirror of the body he once commanded. His limbs were nimble but muscular. His shoulders remained broad, but his torso kept with the precedent, carrying down, creating a frame that was sparse but well-formed. His face was afforded the luxury of a nose and a mouth, and strong brown eyes, at that moment cast downwards towards the glistening floor. “Two, look at me.” Eyes lifted, contemptuous but resigned, containing an anger more towards the future than the wraith that stood before him, demanding that which he was most unwilling to give. “I know. I know.” “Up.” The child stood. Though his father’s face was nothing more than a plate of metal and two eyes, he could feel the metal man frown. That frown had always been the reality-bringer. It was not the frown of a father but the frown of an owner, disappointed with a faulty product. In the end, the boy was no more than a tool. His father
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SCIENCE FICTION
STOLEN HEART BY ARNAV RATHEE
spoke again, the tinny but strong voice serving as a repeated gutpunch. “You are afraid.” “Yes.” The frown made itself known again, with the cocking of the head and the slight spasm of the fists. “I’ve given you twelve years, boy, to prepare for this. It was not unexpected. You have no reason to be afraid.”
The boy could not argue. He had no case. He knew that the day would come, when his body would be collected and he would be sent on without it. It was no surprise. It still hurt. It hurt that he knew he would never hurt again. It hurt that his mind would be sent off to drift in the void while his body was commandeered by the iron monster before him.
BY ARNAV RATHEE
ILLUSTRATION | JENNIFER ZHAO
Silently, he cursed the boy, fourteen years of age, who was swept off of the streets by the promise of twelve good years. That boy was naive. That boy would gladly have died for a good meal. Twelve years of good meals was a gift of God. He watched his father sweep whirring limbs across the room, caressing the curvature of the walls, negotiating them, praying for
purchase. Synthetic fingers found none. “Do you see, boy, what age has done to me? I cannot touch, cannot smell. I can’t eat. I haven’t been able to feel for three years. I could have been impatient. I could have taken your arms then. I did not.” The metal man turned, training his eyes on his boy. “Do you know why I named you
Two?” The boy’s expression simultaneously soured and lightened. “I’m the second.” “You are the second. The first boy, he was like you. He was strong. I made him glorious. I thought he was fearless. In the end, he told me I made him afraid. He was afraid, like you are now. It’s not an unnatural feeling. “The process is quick, for you. You’ll be anesthetized, and then, it’s over. No pain, nothing.” The boy could not deny the fascinating finality of his predicament. The concept of being finished was alluring. When he was dead, he wouldn’t know it. He wouldn’t be bothered by his demise once it was over. Still… “I don’t want to-” “Don’t want to die?” Servos whirred with intense disdain, eyes narrowed and the red face of death came swiftly closer. “You don’t want to die, boy? You’re getting a more gentle end than the majority of this world could ask for. If you were still out on those streets, they would be taking you apart slowly, then stuffing you inside a metal casing and working you for eternity.” The father was entirely gone. Metal had taken half of him and anger the rest as he placed his palm on his boy’s face. “I cannot feel you. Would you like this? I can put you in a metal box and let you watch yourself be taken apart, if you’d like. If you don’t go insane from the dissonance, you’ll fry the monitor out of fear. Do you want that, boy? Do you want to be like me, slowly realizing you’re trapped in a box, looking out at complete people and craving a release until you go mad, stealing children?” The demon sighed, a grating sound fraught with forced calm and unbridled tension whipping outward at the sight of his impending humanity. “Look, boy, there are worse ways to live, than the death you are being given. It’s coming either way. Come to terms, now. “Better to die than to live in a shell.” RES NOVAE
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YOU KNEW IT ALL ALONG, DIDN’T YOU? ANANYA DUA
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