Mission Starliner
Lyon Levin ’28
Pg. 3
Beyond the Scale: Ozempic’s Effect on the Human Body
Eliana Gonen ’27
Pg. 6
How Music Resonates in the Brain
Caroline Kollander ’27
Pg. 9
How New AI Technologies Can Help Scientists Detect Aliens
Abigail Maksin ’28
Pg. 11
Pasteur’s Big Idea: Life Comes from Life, Not Leftover Soup
Racheli Voda ‘27
Pg. 14
Vera Rubin
Mai Shashua ’26
Pg. 16
On June 5th, 2024, the Boeing the Starliner became the first crewed Boeing Spacecraft to enter space. It was launched atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from the Cape Canaveral Space Station in Florida. Aboard the Starliner Spacecraft, a 15- foot-tall cone-shaped capsule that was created in partnership with NASA for low-Earth orbit missions, were astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore. Suni Williams was a former Captain in the U.S. Navy who grew up in the suburbs of Cleveland. Butch Wilmore grew up in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, and also was a Captain in the U.S. Navy. Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were going to the International Space Station to test out the Starliner.
When the Starliner broke off from the Atlas V fifteen minutes after launch, the astronauts had difficulty controlling the reaction control system - helium was leaking from the propulsion system. Once Williams and Wilmore safely docked on the ISS, NASA decided the Starliner wasn’t safe enough to bring the astronauts home. Although Suni Williams and Butch were supposed to spend 8 days on the ISS, it would be over 9 months before their return to Earth.
On the ISS, Williams and Wilmore lived in quarters about the size of a phone booth and had no access to a shower - instead, they cleaned themselves with wipes. The ISS has filters to clean the air of bacteria. Because Williams and Wilmore weren’t exposed to, their own bacteria thrived because it had less external competition.
The Starliner returned to Earth on September 7, 2024, landing at WhiteSands Space Harbor in New Mexico without the crew. Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore Splashed into the sea off the coast of Florida on March 18th, 2025. NASA and Boeing plan to ground-test the Starliner's propulsion system this summer and expect to fly the spacecraft again in early 2026, but likely without a crew.
Once they started their reacclimation and were exposed to bacteria, they started developing rashes. The lack of bacteria on the ISS contributed to a lack of biodiversity in the astronauts’ metabolism - as Eric Niiler wrote for the Wall Street Journal, “The space station is too clean, and it’s making astronauts sick.” The astronauts, as Rob Knight said, “stewed in their own filth.”
As NASA and Boeing learn from the technical - and biological - issues that took place on the Starliner, the path ahead of us is only going to seem longer and more complicated. Although each difficulty that Suni WIlliams and Butch Wilmore experienced on the Starliner may seem like a setback,
they brought light to new challenges humanity needs to overcome to come closer to our goals in space exploration.
ABC News. "Boeing's the Starliner Launches Its 1st Astronaut-Crewed Flight After Several Delays." ABC News, 5 June 2024, https://abcnews.go.com/US/boeings-the Starliner-set-1st-astronautcrewed-flight-after/story?id=110855655.
Niiler, Eric. "The Space Station Is Too Clean, and It's Making Astronauts Sick." Fox Business, 25 March 2025, https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/space-station-too-clean-its-makingastronauts-sick.
Today.com. "NASA Astronauts Return with Possible Health Problems." Today, https://www.today.com/ health/news/nasa-astronauts-return-possible-health-problems-rcna196862.
NBC News. "NASA Astronauts Speak After Being Stuck in Space for 9 Months." NBC News, https:// www.nbcnews.com/science/space/nasa-astronauts-speak-stuck-space-9-months-rcna198870
Boeing. "the Starliner Updates." the Starliner Updates, https://the Starlinerupdates.com/.
Wikipedia contributors. "Reaction Control System." Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 6 Apr. 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaction_control_system.
Eliana Gonen ’27
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Adult Obesity Facts." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 14 Sept. 2022, https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/adult-obesity-facts/index.html.
"GLP-1 Receptor Agonists and Related Mental Health Issues." Endocrinology Advisor, https:// pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10669484/
Reitz, Katie. "Ozempic's New Frontier: The War on Aging." The Wall Street Journal, https:// www.wsj.com/health/wellness/ozempic-weight-loss-drug-aging-health-benefits-d93a22f8.
"Semaglutide, a Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonist with Promising Potential." Nature, 2021, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41573-021-00337-8/
"Semaglutide, a Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonist with Cardiovascular Benefits." National Center for Biotechnology Information, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8736331/
Thomas, Katie. "Ozempic Slows Kidney Disease, Novo Nordisk Study Finds." The Wall Street Journal, 25 Oct. 2023, https://www.wsj.com/health/pharma/ozempic-slows-kidney-diseasenovo-nordisk-study-finds-cc30f4cd
"What Is Ozempic?" Ozempic, https://www.ozempic.com/why-ozempic/what-is-ozempi
You may have noticed over the years that music has the miraculous ability to change a person’s mood directly. Obvious examples include the energetic atmosphere at a party with upbeat music or the melancholy of sitting alone in your room listening to sad songs. While lyrics play a central role in how we relate to music and shape our thoughts, studies suggest that tones and timbres leave the most immediate and lasting impression on our emotions.
The earliest mammals relied heavily on their sense of hearing as a protective mechanism. “They were hyper focused, hyperattentive” explains Patrick Whelam, a lecturer at Harvard Medical School. This biological sensitivity to sounds persists in humans today, which may explain why music resonates so powerfully in the brain.
Music can also trigger physical responses, leading to emotional reactions. The autonomic nervous system (ANS), which controls involuntary processes in our bodies like breathing and heartrate, play a key role in this phenomenon. Uplifting, positive music versus dark, somber music can directly influence the ANS, causing heart rate fluctuations depending on the listener’s emotional response. This is precisely why movies and TV incorporate background music to enhance the atmosphere of a scene. Music naturally engages and connects with audiences. Horror films, in particular, masterfully use this effect. For example, the iconic Jaws soundtrack alone has been shown to accelerate heart rates and instill actual fear in listeners.
Ultimately, music is a powerful force that influences our emotions, physiology, and even our perception of the world around us. Whether it’s a song that lifts your spirits, or a rhythm that gets your heart racing, music has a unique way of connecting with humans on a profound level.
Caroline Kollander ’27
Eck, Allison. “How Music Resonates in the Brain.” Magazine.hms.harvard.edu, Harvard Medicine, Mar. 2024, magazine.hms.harvard.edu/articles/how-music-resonates-brain.
The idea that aliens inhabit our universe is not an uncommon belief. In fact, a 2025 survey of over 1,000 scientists found that 87% believe in aliens! With the endless possibilities that lie beyond our planet, there are countless ways to explore these phenomena. In recent years, the rise of AI has become a significant factor in our interest in exploring extraterrestrial life.
To understand the contribution of AI in detecting aliens, we must first examine how AI can be used for this purpose. Emerging AI technologies have contributed to many tasks in exploration. Artificial intelligence can handle massive datasets, detect anomalies, and perform tasks beyond the capabilities of human teams. AI is transforming the search for extraordinary discoveries right before our eyes.
The application of artificial intelligence in the exploration of life in space began with the initial intention of analyzing ancient data samples from Earth as well as data from meteorites. This later evolved into the analysis of larger data collections using AI. For example, AI has been employed to scan through complex datasets from previous missions to identify patterns and spot clues to the possibility of other life. AI is invaluable in detecting details that are challenging to discern using human intelligence alone, providing data more quickly and efficiently.
AI has been utilized in various fields of exploration, and the search for aliens is one of them. With advancing technologies, the possibilities are endless! This new approach to exploring beyond Earth is extremely exciting, and as AI continues to evolve every moment, the search for aliens never ends!
Google.com, 2025, www.google.com/url?
sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=www.bbc.com/news/ business-68346015&ved=2ahUKEwja06bdobiMAxUcEFkFHe1RNFUQFnoECBQQAQ&usg =AOvVaw0dEDmbeFhwDV7j5Qil65sh. Accessed 2 Apr. 2025.
Google.com, 2025, www.google.com/url?
sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=www.scientificamerican.com/article/artificialintelligence-will-let-humanity-talk-to-alien-civilizations/ &ved=2ahUKEwja06bdobiMAxUcEFkFHe1RNFUQFnoECCkQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0l4Agh7S FRc0a-I9BP2ysc. Accessed 2 Apr. 2025.
Google.com, 2025, www.google.com/url?
sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/ ai-space-planets-alien-
life&ved=2ahUKEwja06bdobiMAxUcEFkFHe1RNFUQFnoECCgQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0tjGm 7Y_ux9SxrJAxfv51H. Accessed 2 Apr. 2025.
Once upon a time, people believed that life just popped into existence out of nowhere– like dust turning into tiny creatures. But then came Louis Pasteur, a French chemist, pharmacist, and microbiologist, ready to put that old belief to the test. What he discovered didn't just rewrite a theory–it helped explain where all life really comes from. His goal was to confirm or disprove the idea of spontaneous generation– the belief that organisms can arise from non-living matter– and in doing so, he proved that life comes only from existing life– a concept we still believe today. With a swan-necked flask and some boiled broth, Pasteur shut down spontaneous generation and changed biology forever.
For centuries, people believed in spontaneous generation– the idea that living things could appear from non-living matter. To many, it seemed obvious: leave out some broth or matzo ball soup, and soon tiny creatures would be crawling all over it. For lack of better words– disgusting, right? But Louis Pasteur wasn’t convinced. Instead of accepting this theory, he decided to test it and find out whether life really could appear out of nothing. First, he took some meat broth and killed any existing microorganisms by heating it. Then, he placed the broth in two flasks: a straight-neck flask and a swanneck flask. The swan-neck made it difficult for any microbes to get through while still allowing air to pass, so that if organisms really could appear from nothing, they would still have the chance to do so. The straight-neck flask, on the other hand, allowed both air and microbes to enter easily.
The sterile broths were left to sit at room temperature, and after several weeks Pasteur observed the results. The straight-neck flask became discolored and cloudy, while the swan-neck flask remained unchanged. The cloudiness in the straight-neck flask came from the germs and microbes that had easily entered. The fact that the swan-neck flask stayed clear proved that microorganisms couldn’t get in due to the curved neck and more importantly, they didn't randomly appear because that's not how life originates. Pasteur’s experiment proved that life doesn't appear spontaneously from non-living matter, but instead comes from existing
microorganisms in the environment.
Louis Pasteur’s groundbreaking experiment didn’t just disprove a centuries-old theory; it reshaped how we think about life itself. By proving that living things come from other living things, he laid the groundwork for future studies in biology and medicine. All it took was some broth, a couple of flasks, and the right question to revolutionize the study of biology.
Harris, William. “How the Scientific Method Works.” HowStuffWorks Science, HowStuffWorks, 19 Aug. 2021, science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/scientific-experiments/scientificmethod5.htm.
“1.1C: Pasteur and Spontaneous Generation.” Biology LibreTexts, Libretexts, 23 Nov. 2024,bio.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Microbiology/Microbiology_(Boundless)/ 01%3A_Introduction_to_Microbiology/1.01%3A_Introduction_to_Microbiology/ 1.1C%3A_Pasteur_and_Spontaneous_Generation#:~:text=In%20summary%2C%20Pasteur%2 0boiled%20a,growth%20for%20an%20extended%20period.
Vera Rubin was an American astronomer whose work discovered the existence of dark matter in our universe. This changed the way that scientists understood the universe.
Vera Rubin was born on July 23rd, 1928, in Philadelphia to a Jewish family. When Rubin was 10 years old, her family moved to Washington, DC. Growing up, she had a deep love for science. Her parents supported her love for this field and helped her achieve her dreams. Rubin was inspired by the first US female astronomer, Maria Mitchell, which led her to attend Vassar College.
After graduating college and pursuing a higher degree, she started to research. She worked with Kent Ford, and after nine papers published together, they began to study dark matter. Fritz Zwicky and the scientific community first touched upon the discovery and overlooked his work. However, Rubin and Ford did not give up. They worked together and tracked the rotation of stars around the center of galaxies. What was weird was that they expected the stars farther from the galaxy's center to rotate slower but were met with the stars rotating just as fast as the ones near the center. This led them to think that there must be an invisible mass that causes the speed to be that way. This invisible mass is what is now known as dark matter.
Vera Rubin won many awards for her inspiring and life-changing research. For example, in 1996, she became the second woman to receive the gold medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in London. In 1996, President Clinton nominated her as a member of the National Science Board.
Before Rubin’s life-changing discovery, scientists did not think about dark matter in the same way. Her discovery helped open the door for future research into dark matter and shifted how scientists view the universe today. Her research changed the field of astronomy forever. She showed that the universe is far more complex than anyone imagined. She was a trailblazer for women in science and continues to inspire scientists worldwide.
Dawson, Shay, et al. “Vera Rubin.” National Women’s History Museum, www.womenshistory.org/ education-resources/biographies/vera-rubin. Accessed 17 Mar. 2025.
“Who Was Vera Rubin?” Rubin Observatory, rubinobservatory.org/about/vera-rubin. Accessed 17 Mar. 2025.
"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is to not stop questioning." - Albert Einstein
This publication which encourages science research is generously sponsored by The Harriet H. Cohen and Paul Milberg Science Research Program
Noa Essner ’25
Mai Shashua ‘26
Ms. Lenore Brachot