Discovery Lectures
Get a taste of recent STEM research from UCSC professors and guest lecturers!
Photo by Celina Chen
Day 1Discovering Infinity (Dr. Richard Gottesman)
By Victor Gong and Max Zhai
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As British mathematician Andrew Wiles once proclaimed, “Mathematicians aren’t satisfied because they know there are no solutions up to four million or four billion, they really want to know that there are no solutions up to infinity.” In the first lecture of the last week, Dr. Richard Gottesman covered infinite sets and their relationships with one another. First, Dr. Gottesman explained what a set is, describing it as simply a group of elements or numbers. Two sets can have a 1 to 1 correspondence, meaning that every element in one set can be assigned to every element in the other set in a pairwise fashion. Although this property is simple to imagine for finite sets, applying and checking for 1 to 1 correspondence among infinite sets is much more complicated. Even though two infinite sets may not possess the same number of elements, a 1 to 1 correspondence can still hold true, as long as a definite rule or function can be ascribed to link elements. However, not all infinite sets have 1 to 1 correspondence with each other. Through Cantor’s diagonal argument, students of Dr. Gottesman demonstrated that the infinite set of real numbers is larger than the infinite set of rational numbers, and thus real numbers cannot be put into correspondence with rational numbers. The concept of infinity extends far beyond the realm of mathematics to subjects such as computer science, physics, chemistry, and even economics. Thus, understanding infinity proves to be a crucial first step in the development of further topics.
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Day 2
From Natural History to Scientific Research (Dr. Gizelle Hurtado and Prof. Andy Kulikowski)
By Victor Gong and Max Zhai
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Creatures roam the environment all around you, no matter where you go. In this lecture, Dr. Gizelle Hurtado and Prof. Andy Kulikowski detailed current research surrounding insects, their behaviors, and their communities. Firstly, Prof. Kulikoswki talked about Randall Morgan, an ecologist and biologist who helped advocate for conservation protection and conduct research in the Santa Cruz area. He ended up collecting over 72,000 specimens with plant association data and also discovered a particular endangered beetle species. Next, Prof. Kulikowski detailed various student research projects, including bumble bee phenology and bumble bee plant pollination. Next, Dr. Hurtado took the stage and first introduced her story and background in dealing with mammals and working in national parks. She then addressed research surrounding mammal aggression in different habitats. Although Dr. Hurtado’s initial hypothesis was that animals in urban areas would be more aggressive, data demonstrated that urbanization did not have a significant effect on aggression. However, the study did demonstrate the proportionality of aggression and boldness. To wrap up the session, Dr. Hurtado discussed endoparasites and ectoparasites and their impacts on animals. Overall, analyzing and studying animal behaviors help scientists and researchers discover trends, and the effort ultimately helps us understand and maintain the environment around us.
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Day 3Building Complexity in Soft Light-Harvesting Systems via Phase Separation of Semiconducting Polyelectrolytes (Dr. Alexander Ayzner)
By Victor Gong and Max Zhai
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You’ve probably heard of photosynthesis, but how much do you know of the complex chemical process behind it? Dr. Ayzner described the immensely complex structure of photosynthesis in a leaf as well as bacteria, giving the students a sense of its function. He states that photosynthesis is “arguably responsible for all life on earth,” emphasizing its fundamental role in the natural world. Electronic energy transfer (EET) is the key to efficient light harvesting through artificial means. Dr. Ayzner also explained that photosynthetic organisms exhibit incredibly complex structures on many length scales, making it difficult for scientists to replicate these structures to make materials that are environmentally benign, lightweight, cheap, and easily manufacturable. In order to make complex artificial light harvesters, several processes are needed, including the self-assembly technique polyelectrolyte complex coacervation. Dr. Ayzner detailed this process as where highly polyelectrolyte-enriched concentrated phases are formed. This process is inspired by nature's ability to create new materials through phase separation. Additionally, semiconducting coacervates with additional dipolar interactions show promise for efficient light harvesting. Dr. Ayzner wrapped up the lecture by promoting one specific polymer, the CPE "Simple" Coacervate, which seems to be particularly suitable for this purpose.
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Day 4Chiral Molecules and Nanostructures (Dr. Shaowei Chen)
By Victor Gong and Max Zhai
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For the last discovery lecture of the camp, the man himself Dr. Shaowei Chen dove into the complex world of chirality and nanostructures. Dr. Chen began by explaining a characteristic called chirality, which is a property of asymmetry that is important in many branches of science. More specifically, a chiral compound cannot contain an improper axis and cannot be superimposed on its mirror image. Chirality is commonly found throughout nature, such as in snail shell spirals as well as seashells. Louis Pasteur first observed this phenomenon in the 19th century through crystals of natural tartaric acid. Dr. Chen described chirality as a precise way to control chemical reactions. Many drugs have chiralic features, such as Thalidomide, a drug prescribed to pregnant women between 1957 and 1962 for morning sickness. The drug hampered the growth of infants in the first trimester, resulting in thousands of miscarriages. Artificial sweeteners also include chirality. For example, L-aspartame is sweet (left), while D-aspartame is tasteless (right). Even our own bodies, as Dr. Chen added, have chiral structures in the form of proteins and double stranded DNA helices. In order to detect a chiral molecule, Dr. Chen explained a process called circular dichroism, which measures the absorption difference between the left and right side to determine chirality and other properties. Dr. Chen wrapped up the lecture by talking about future developments using chirality, which was followed by thunderous applause.
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