This week I finished the Scientific American journal I was reading, and read a Science News and the New Scientist. In Scientific American, I read about the next collider after the LHC, which will be a linear collider for electrons and positrons. This is especially interesting to me, because I am thinking about going into particle physics, and a lot of new data to make new theories will start coming out in the next couple of years, so it should be a really interesting time in physics.
There was also an article about how the arctic ice sheets are melting off really fast, but they are not exactly melting. They are just sliding off due to underwater lakes that decrease the friction. It is kind of one of those chaos theory things where a really small change in the temperature leads to changes that make the temperature even warmer really fast. Just goes to show how little we really know about our world. I also learned that 2007-2009 is the fourth International Polar Year(s).
In Science News there was an article about how adult stem cells are being used on performance horses to repair tendons and other common leg injuries. But they talk about how it is difficult to do blind studies, because horse owners don’t want to take the chance that their horse will not get the stem cells. Money tends to get in the way of scientific research, but it also stimulates research as well.
Another article was about how during pregnancy cells from mothers can pass to the fetus and vice-versa. These “foreign” cells are normally destroyed, but sometimes they stick around and turn into other cells that can cause diseases. A lot more women than men get autoimmune disorders, especially women who have had children, so it is thought that some autoimmune disorders are triggered by the foreign cells. But it is also possible that the child’s stem cells can cure some diseases, such as cancer or diabetes. Really interesting stuff, but kind of gives you the creeps if you think about having children.
The last article I read was about how there may be genes for being liberal or conservative. This was especially interesting to me at the time, because the night before a (very liberal) friend and I were having a conversation about politics and views with two very conservative friends. It’s funny because although we can have very civil conversations and discuss why we believe the things that we believe, none of us will probably change our viewpoints. Kind of interesting if you think about it. I don’t know if it’s a subset of personality that makes you that way or what, but it’s also interesting that conservatives are against birth control, gay marriage, and abortion, which may tend to increase their population growth. Maybe it is an evolutionary thing after all, and liberals are dying out, but you never know.
In other news, I got accepted to the University of Texas-Austin as well, and have made plans to visit both schools. Saturday morning I took Reeju out driving (she’s from Nepal, but she needs to learn how to drive soon, because she’s going to grad school in the U.S. next year). It was okay, but I accidentally drove with the parking brake on, which was really ditzy. And I forgot how totally scary it is when you first start driving, but other than that it went okay. Then I went on a high ropes course with Dr. Sheldon’s IST 107 class, which was totally fun!!!! We did a climbing wall, and then we did this leap of life thing, where you climb up a tree, walk across a beam, and jump into the air. So awesome!!!! A lot of people were kind of scared, but I really wasn’t. I think my fear of heights part of me is really missing, because I had no normal trepidation at all. It was really fun though, and everyone did really well. But now my head is rather orange from my helmet, and I can’t make it go away. Kind of funny.
Well, see you next week.
