User:Spock8179
From MariachiWiki
[[Image:|thumb|250px|right|Me and my acoustic guitar]] Name: Nicole Alimario
Age: 18
Major: Biochemistry
Minor: Linguistics (tentative)
Hometown: Valley Stream, NY
Birthdate: March 31, 1987
Contents |
About Me
[[Image:|thumb|250px|right|My own collage of Cartoons/Anime, from Fruits Basket to Batman!]]
Hey there! My name is Nicole, and I am currently a freshman at Stony Brook University studying biochemistry. I am 100% Filipino, and quite proud of it. Uh, I have no pets, two sisters (16 and 3), lots of friends who are science nerds, and an inner child that's four years old lol, just kidding.
I came from Valley Stream Central High School and have been interested in science since tenth grade after taking regents chemistry and testing my legs in the newly instated INTEL program there, but am not a big fan of physics due to the fact that it involves alot of math... But after moving to Stony Brook, I think it is a challenge I can take. Right now I am enrolled in a program known as WISE, and required to try this really cool lab under the Wise187 class: Cosmic rays and particle physics (check it out at WISE 187). I've previously experimented with Common Molecular Techniques with Plasmids in a Microbiology, and Phototaxis in Euglina in Microbial Neurobiology and Biophysics w/ Prof. Lyman (yeah!).
Over the course of the last five years I have worked in Religious Education, a Miniature Golf Course in Hendrickson Park, and attempted to work in a hospital in order to conduct a study on Type 1 Diabetes with a friend of my father's (that didn't work out so well), but it was an interesting few experiences nevertheless. I really enjoyed debating with fellow scholars on similar topics of science... like how physics really doesnt exist or its just a made up fake science.... just kidding, or anything of a similar kind. And it was cool to learn how much of a science nerd I really am!
Hobbies and interests
[[Image: |thumb|225px|left|Richard Dean Anderson as 'Col. Jack O'Neill' and Michael Shanks as 'Dr. Daniel Jackson']]I really like science fiction and anime, as my friends have probably come to know since I have a poster of my favorite actor hanging in my dorm room. I religiously watch the TV show known as Stargate SG-1, and a plethora of Japanese animated cartoons such as Fushigi Yuugi, InuYasha, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Fruits Basket!
In my spare time I like to read books like Memoirs of a Geisha, ahhh! Ken Watanabe!!, and of course the Harry Potter series... On occasion I will test out the intellectual waters, as I am currently reading "The Quantum World" by Kenneth Ford, and my religious side: "The Case for a Creator" by Lee Strobel. I also enjoy writing up stories like fanfiction and simming, while learning to play the acoustic guitar with my friends Amy and Krystal.
Back home I like to drive around my small hometown in my '06 Corolla, drink bubble tea at my friend's store 'Little Nest' and of course exercise with Rey, Julie, Jenn and Mark at the Tennis courts, or whenever we find a Badminton Court that too! Man I adored Kevin Han during the Olympics.. too bad they lost to Sweden real easily... But I want Andy Roddick to whip Rodger Federer's ass! [[Image:|thumb|250px|right|Kevin Han (Olympic Badminton) and Andy Roddick (professional Tennis)]]
Other than that I'm your pretty typical (pseudo)asian... or Oceanic as my friends have labelled it. Standing 62 inches tall, my friends have dubbed me 'shortiee', and I pretty much stick to domesticated activities like listening to a wide variety of music: from Linkin Park to Bach. I hang out with teachers after school and stick to my computer watching re-runs of Justice League or DBZ, maybe do something social and talk on AIM... But thats pretty much it.
I hope to grow out of that junk and become a doctor like my grandfather. And if I have enough time and money, go on a real trip and see places outside of this little island... Particularly Japan, the world's coolest place for everything I'm interested in. I also wanted to try my hand at being an astronaut, but fat chance of that happening anytime soon, even though my AP physics teacher really believes he's going to Mars before I do. My earliest dream was to be the first person in the world to meet a Vulcan!
Where to find me
Contact me at Spock8179@aol.com, Facebook or even MySpace.
Favorite Links
The Kingdom of Loathing
Stargate SG-1 Online RPG/Simming
Gateworld.Net
WIKIPEDIA
Mythology Encyclopedia
Assignments
- Popcorn Lab Write Up: PDF File
- Finding the Speed of Cosmic Rays
- The Effect of Materials on Cosmic Rays
Blog Section
Create a blog/journal entry on your personal page. Begin each entry with the date. After entering the date, write two or three sentences about your most recent class experience. In particular, write about what was accomplished in class. You should also write about a "lightbulb" moment and a "challenge" moment since the last class.
March 28, 2006
On our first 'real' class Tuesday afternoon consisted of the Popcorn Lab in which a tiny microphone was attached to a microwave, and utilized to measure the number of *pop* sounds over a period of approximately 100 seconds. Following at least two trials, and two snack breaks, we separated into groups and collected data from the computer. Our group's methodology was approximating the time and amplitude for the first five pops (where they were sure to be in small increments apart) and base our guestimations on length of time for multiple pops when measuring the highest rate of popping.
Lightbulb Moment: Upon creating a histogram chart utilizing large increments of time, the rate of pops vs. time appeared to take the form of a standard bell curve. This would sort of make sense in that, as we learned in class the popping of corn kernels is attributed to a chemical reaction activated by the removal of water.
Challenge Moment: Based on this information, the question becomes how does the removal of water affect the reaction rate and the number of kernels popped over a period of time, this includes popping at the same time, how many kernels are popped (and un-popped for that matter), and how to chart this information over the given intervals of time.
March 30, 2006
Thursday afternoon we were instructed to create four experiments (three of which we were only able to concieved) on cosmic rays. These experiments included identifying how well cosmic rays passed through certain objects, determining the origin of cosmic rays, and determining the speed at which cosmic rays travel. This was based on the information we posessed (quite small if I may say so) in that Cosmic Rays emanate from 'the cosmos', they pass through many things, and that cosmic rays can come from many different directions (therefore we must also compensate for that variable using a few techniques discussed during class).
Lightbulb Moment: Upon researching "Cosmic Rays" on google, I came upon cosmicrays.org and have discovered that cosmic rays themselves are affected by magnetic fields. Cosmic Rays are also a factor affecting weather. Also I have come to understand what a Forbush decreases is, something along the lines of a magnetic cloud created by a phenomenon similar to a solar flare. This in turn then prevents many cosmic rays from entering the atmosphere
Challenge Moment: A challenging moment we encountered was discovering that we truly were on our own in this session, that we were forced to leave the protection of a classroom environment and design our own projects with which we would perform and eventually be graded on... It was quite scary.
April 4, 2006
This Tuesday, we attended a talk given by a Professor Angela V. Olinto of Chicago University. A woman who’s interests in physics focus on particle and theoretical astrophysics, she has made many contributions to science. According to an article which is titled Mysteries of the Extreme Universe these contributions range through to the physics of quark stars, inflationary theory, cosmic magnetic fields and particle astrophysics. She is a member of the Enrico Fermi Institute, Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, and a Trustee of the Aspen Center for Physics.
Focusing the majority of her speech on high-energy cosmic particles, which are unique to the low energy particles similar to the ones studied in class, are “subatomic particles that enter the atmosphere with so much energy that they produce a giant cascade of many tens of billions of secondary particles.” The resulting cascade ‘shower’ is something capable of covering an area that can be observed by very large detectors on Earth. And while these particles are capable of emitting energy up to the twenty-second power, the origin and composition of such rays are yet to be determined. Such is the goal of Professor Olinto’s experiments in the Pierre Auger Project: to determine the source of these particles.
Of her theories, the most interesting I found was circulating around a black hole, though her explanation was far above my head for me to understand the relevancy of it. Actually most of the lecture was above my head but from what I could comprehend and follow, in her quest to determine the origin of high energy cosmic rays, her project has set up hundreds upon hundreds of observatories in the Chile-Argentina region and employs the aid of more than 200 physicists from 55 institutions around the world. I believe the method that was employed by these observatories detected the development of air showers is based on determining its position on the color spectrum when a particle is emitted high up in the earth’s atmosphere. The target particles, with energies higher than 19th power electron Volts (the highest ever detected) are explained to be extremely rare, and according to the official statement at its official website: Auger Observatory.org, “arrive on Earth at a rate of only 1 particle per square kilometer per year”.
Although most of the lecture left me scratching my head, the theories and information she presented did pique my scientific interest. Since before I have come to understand only a fraction of the impact of cosmic rays I was amazed to find that it had a similar but more profound impact on more qualified scientists around the world, let alone a leading female physicist. And while more than enough aspects of this research had boggled my mind, I was very surprised to learn her lecture had sparked my curiosity.
April 6, 2006
After reiterating that we really didn't know what the heck we were doing, we went over the equipment once more very meticulously. Once partially comprehending how things worked we were able to trudge through and form a bit of a theory on each of our experiments.
Lightbulb moment: Forming ideas on our experiments, and procedures.
Challenge moment: retaining that information for after spring break
The Oscilloscope:The oscilloscope is basically a graph-displaying device - it draws a graph of an electrical signal. In most applications the graph shows how signals change over time: the vertical (Y) axis represents voltage and the horizontal (X) axis represents time.
Cosmic Ray Theory: Cosmic rays most likely come from above because we've seen diagrams in which the direction of a cosmic ray particle shower forms towards the ground, following the force of gravity. And since the sun is above us... it probably comes from above.
April 17, 2006
Today we performed our first experiment: determining the speed of a cosmic ray. After fumbling through with our procedures we attempted to look like we knew what we were doing upon watching the oscilloscope. the plot of the story was to use the formula V=D/T Distance being the distance between the two scintillators that we calculated, and the time being the amount based on the graph.
Lightbulb moment: Finally understanding how the gosh darn equipment works
Challenge moment: Converting our numbers of distance and time into speed, because the X value in this case was the Distance and NOT the time.
April 19, 2006
Part Two of Three: measuring the effect of materials on the path traveled by cosmic rays and whether or not the materials affect the speed of a cosmic ray. I was pretty disappointed that we didnt get to use a magnetic field in this experiment but oh well... We used wood, aluminum, lead bricks, and cosmic chris to see how cosmic rays are affected. I really enjoyed the simple waiting there and getting an opportunity to chit-chat with my fellow students and teachers and talk about simple things... like how I hate cabot... or how stargate rocks... or how physics isnt a real science.
Lightbulb moment: Cosmic Chris was REALLY affected by the distance between 5 floors of concrete.
Challenge moment: Doing the timing part without a stop watch.
April 25, 2006
Part Three of Three: Ahh, the last experiment. We spent a good portion of the class time discussing the impact of the class on our scientific careers.. I felt bad for being critical... but oh well.. Then we took charge and played with the scintillator apparatus, and it was pretty interesting to really work as a group.
Lightbulb moment: at certain angles, either way they are measuring the same amount of cosmic rays as if they were rotated 180 degrees. Also it would have been more beneficial to get a larger sampling to better calculate our results.
Challenge moment: Remembering who does what for all three projects.
Wrap-up and Final Thoughts
Brainstorm Redux: I have always been interested in the "science fiction aspect" of science, and as previously mentioned, cosmic rays play a part in the human mutation (for good or ill), due to my limited knowlege I cannot however construct an experiment to study in depth the effects of cosmic rays on the human genome.
From the Rutherford Gold foil experiment, mankind was able to take a glimpse into the composition of the tiniest building block: matter. Perhaps using a field of different elements, one can acertain exactly what comprises a cosmic ray.
Blog, blog, blog: After spending a few weeks on the top floor of the physics building, I have reinforced my hatred of physics (sorry), but I have gained some insight into the scientific process that top notch honchos work at every day. I understand that even the foremost experts in any given field have to go blindfolded, make mistakes, and scratch their heads till they become bald (or in Einstein's case... just have bad hair). However as a flowering research scientist, I fear it has hindered my learning experience. Those who begin at the very bottom of the research lab ladder, as I have discussed with URECA participants, have gained experience through learning by questioning and observing their mentors. And although my experience in the biochemical department is limited, I have no qualms about treading those waters again.
In relation to this experiment however, I have come to understand a little bit more about the mysteries occuring outside the sphere of our world. Even piquing my interest slightly, I have expanded and explored the limited knowlege of physics I posess, and even befriended a few new faces. So all in all, it was not a waste of time.
Lightbulb moment: Coming to terms with the complexity of the scientific method and how it applies to real life research.
Challenging moment: Continuing this train of thought in the future.
