Engineering Rivers and Wetlands for Climate Resiliency

by Shoshana Harlem, Terra Linda High School

Rivers are important because they supply
communities with water, food, and transportation.

     Rivers and wetlands are important. Rivers supply communities with water, food, and transportation.  They carry water from the land to the ocean. In the ocean, the seawater evaporates and that water vapor forms clouds. Then, the clouds carry the moisture and release it as precipitation. This is a process called the water cycle, and this water cycle helps make sure that Earth has a supply of freshwater. This freshwater is essential for all living things. Wetlands are also essential. Wetlands are areas where water covers soil. Wetlands help improve and protect water quality, provide habitats for fish and wildlife, store water to lessen floods, and make sure that the water flows during dry periods of time.

Wetlands are important because they improve and
protect water quality, provide habitats for fish and
wildlife, store water to lessen floods, and make sure that
water flows during dry periods of time.

     Climate change impacts wetlands and rivers. For instance, climate change causes a loss of carbon in the soil. It takes thousands of years for the carbon to develop in the soil and it can take 250 years for one inch of a peat of soil to develop. Wetlands that do not experience the effects of climate change store nearly two times as much soil as wetlands that experience climate change. Also, when climate change happens, the temperatures of the water become warmer and it changes the amount of precipitation which can also lead to soil loss. When the water warms, it contributes to sea level rise. When the sea level rises, it causes the coastal wetland plants to die. Climate change can also cause rivers and wetlands to flood or even dry out.

    When restoring rivers and wetlands, scientists have certain goals. One goal is to address ongoing causes of degradation. If scientists do not address the ongoing causes of degradation, restoration efforts are likely to fail. People need to know what a problem is in order to properly fix it. Another goal is to restore native species and avoid non-native species. Many nonnative species harm and kill native species in an ecosystem. A third goal to restoring rivers and wetlands is to preserve and protect aquatic resources. This is important because aquatic resources help preserve biodiversity.

Geomorphologists are scientists who study the origin of and
work to protect landforms and landscapes, such as mountains,
valleys, rivers, and wetlands.

     There are many approaches to protecting and restoring wetlands. One approaching is geomorphology. Geomorphologists are scientists who study the origins of and work to protect landforms and landscapes, such as mountains, valleys, rivers, and wetlands. Geomorphologists collect samples of organic materials (such as sediments) to see if these materials had any effect of how the land was shaped. They also look at computer models to determine any change in the landscape. Because of the introduction of the geographic information system, which is a system that helps analyze, manage, and present geographical data, this has helped improve the process of geomorphology.

   
      Another approach to protecting and restoring wetlands is hydraulic

Hydrologists measure the water quality in places
such as estuaries, streams, and rivers.

engineering. Hydrologists are people who study how water moves across and through the Earth's crust. Hydrologists work with public health officials to make sure that health standards are met. When there is climate resiliency, environmental engineers and hydrologists work together to come up with a solution. Hydrologists also measure the water quality in places such as estuaries, streams, and rivers. They also measure the health of fish, plants, and wildlife. Hydrologists use hydrologic and water quality mathematical models to plan and predict what will happen to the water quality, during situations such as climate change. They also analyze pH levels, turbidity, and oxygen levels in bodies of water.           

     To learn more about engineering rivers and wetlands for climate resiliency, come to the Marin Science Seminar at Terra Linda High School in room 207 from 7:30PM-8:30PM on Wednesday, February 5, 2020. Rachel Kamman of Kamman Hydrology and Engineering will be speaking. Join us and learn!

Sources:
https://www.environment.gov.au/water/wetlands/publications/wetlands-climate-change
https://www.epa.gov/wetlands/principles-wetland-restoration
https://www.epa.gov/wetlands
https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/climate-impacts/climate-impacts-coastal-areas_.html
https://www.epa.gov/arc-x/climate-adaptation-and-wetland-protection
https://ecology.wa.gov/Water-Shorelines/Wetlands/Tools-resources/Wetlands-climate-change
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/river/
https://www.epa.gov/wetlands/principles-wetland-restoration
https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/what-hydrology?qt-science_center_objects=0#Hydrologists
https://www.southampton.ac.uk/geography/undergraduate/careers/geomorphologist.page

Geoengineering and Terraforming

by Shoshana Harlem, Terra Linda High School

http://marinscienceseminar.com/geoengineering-and-terraforming-the-manipulation-of-climate-on-earth-and-other-planets/

There are different methods of geoengineering, such as
carbon geoengineering and solar geoengineering.

     Geoengineering is used to change the climate at a global level in order to slow down the effects of climate change. The purpose of geoengineering is to lower the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which will in turn reduce the effects of climate change. There are different techniques of geoengineering. One technique is the Stratospheric Aerosol Injunction (SAI) that would, in order to block the sun, sulphites and other particles are sprayed into the atmosphere. Another technique is to clear forests that are snow-covered. Trees would be cut down and this would increase the light reflected back into space. A third technique is ocean fertilization. The purpose of ocean fertilization is to increase the number of planktons in the ocean. This is done by dumping iron pellets into the ocean.

      There are two types of geoengineering: carbon geoengineering and solar geoengineering. Carbon geoengineering is when carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere. This is important because carbon dioxide build-up in the atmosphere is a cause of global warming. By removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, climate change may be less severe. Solar geoengineering is an attempt to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases by blocking solar radiation and increasing the reflectivity of clouds on the Earth's surface.

     Geoengineering is a controversial topic. Although geoengineering can help slow down the effects of climate change, it can also have negative effects on the environment. For instance, geoengineering can cause ocean acidification to intensify. Ocean acidification is not good because it can cause species that live in the ocean to become sick and die. Another negative effect of geoengineering is that it can cause ozone depletion. Geoengineering may also have a negative affect on plants. It reduces the amount of total sunlight that reaches the Earth's surface. Plants need sunlight to photosynthesize, and so without as much sunlight, they won't be able to photosynthesize as easily. Having less sunlight on the Earth's surface does not only affect plants; it affects humans too because there will be less sun for solar power.

     Unlike geoengineering, terraforming is when the temperature, atmosphere, surface topography, or ecology of a planet or moon is changed to be similar to the environment of Earth in order for Earth-like life to be able to use it as a habitat. For instance, when a planet is too cold, hot, and/or the atmosphere is unbreathable, people will attempt to terraform it so species can live on it. Different planets need different levels of effort to terraform them. For instance, habitable planets already have life so they are already terraformed. On the other hand, a biocompatible planet has the necessary physical parameters, such as energy and stability, that it could eventually hold an ecosystem, but it would require a lot of effort to be terraformed. Besides habitable planets and biocompatible planets, there are planets that can be easily terraformed.

The surface of Mars. People have a common goal to
terraform Mars, which is very difficult to do.

     A common goal that a lot of people have is to terraform Mars. Unfortunately, terraforming Mars is difficult. One reason is because in order for Mars to be terraformed, the atmospheric pressure on Mars would have to be increased. Currently, the atmospheric pressure on Mars is less than 1% that of Earth. Some people believe that the Martian polar ice caps, minerals, and soil could all provide carbon dioxide which would help thicken the atmosphere on Mars. But even doing this would only increase the pressure on Mars to about 7% of that on Earth, a lot less than what would be needed to be able to have enough atmospheric pressure to terraform Mars. Therefore, Mars does not have the right resources to terraform.

     To learn more about geoengineering and terraforming, come to the Marin Science Seminar at Terra Linda High School in room 207 on Wednesday, January 29. Warren Wiscombe Ph.D of NASA Goddard will be speaking. Join us and learn!

Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3596048/
https://geoengineering.environment.harvard.edu/geoengineering
https://nicholas.duke.edu/news/assessing-pros-and-cons-geoengineering-fight-climate-change
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3393062/
http://climate.envsci.rutgers.edu/pdf/20Reasons.pdf
http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2016/ph240/mclaughlin2/
https://www.astro.umd.edu/~miller/teaching/astr380f09/lecture27.pdf
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/goddard/2018/mars-terraforming
http://www.geoengineeringmonitor.org/technologies/
https://climatepolicy.org/index.cfm/climatepolicy/the-basics/there-are-many-possible-policy-responses/geoengineering/
https://interestingengineering.com/terraforming-will-define-the-long-term-future-of-humanity

"Star Clusters: Many-Body Gravitational Laboratories" - An Interview with Nicholas Rui of UC Berkeley

By Shoshana Harlem (MSS Intern, Terra Linda High School)

Nicholas Rui

Nicholas Rui is a current fourth-year undergraduate student at UC Berkeley who is studying physics and astrophysics.

1.  What made you interested in studying star clusters?

I was always somewhat interested in astrophysics as a child, as it seemed fantastical to me that humans would be able to gain so much intuition about the cosmos from our humble vantage point of Earth. My first research project ever, in fact, was on a dissolving star cluster near the center of the galaxy called the Quintuplet cluster, and at that time I was introduced to the fascinating dynamics that govern astrophysical objects such as these.

2. What are some interesting facts about star clusters that you have learned from studying them?

When we take our first classes in physics, one of the first things we learn is Newton's Universal Law of Gravitation, which describes a straightforward attractive force between any two objects with mass. Even though the law, at first, sounds superficial (and a bit boring), it turns out that there are some strange consequences of gravity which appear when you have millions of objects all interacting under gravity. For example, when you add energy to a normal material, you cause the atoms within it to jiggle around faster (thus raising its temperature). However, in gravitationally bound systems like star clusters, adding energy actually causes the stars in the cluster to slow down—star clusters have negative heat capacity. This causes star clusters to undergo runaway "core collapses" during which the number of stars in the cluster core rockets up, producing a dense region where stars interact very often.

3. What are the best parts of your job? What are the hardest parts of your job?

The best parts of my job are where, after a very long period of work, my code finally outputs that coveted plot outlining the answer to the question that I was asking, and being able to weave it into a coherent physical picture. The hardest parts are, of course, some of the moments in between where I am wrestling with some code bug, or when I am struggling to word a sentence in a precise enough way to communicate some physical phenomenon without going too deep into the weeds. You learn to take the good with the bad, but I promise the good is worth it.

4. What advice would you give to people who want to study star clusters?

Perhaps the most important thing for people who know they want to do astronomy is to learn how to code. When people think about what astronomers do, they often imagine rough-and-ready eccentrics pointing their backyard telescopes at Saturn, and it's true that some of us do this some of the time. However, especially in the age of big data, one of the primary jobs of the astrophysicist is making sense of the data that we obtain, and this requires being able to deal with it efficiently and with insight. Also, never give up your curiosity.

5. What current projects are you working on?

5. My most recent project has been on matching real star clusters that we actually observe to simulated star clusters based off of the brightness of the star clusters, as well as the velocities of those in the star cluster. Even though we can't see things like black holes, provided we trust our models, we can figure out how many black holes we expect to be inside a star cluster based off of things that we can measure.

Want to learn more about Nicholas Rui and star clusters? Join us on Wednesday, November 13, 2019 at Terra Linda High School from 7:30 PM - 8:30 PM in Room 207!

Learn more at 

http://marinscienceseminar.com/star-clusters-many-body-gravitational-laboratories-with-nicholas-rui-of-uc-berkeley/?fbclid=IwAR1ERJwOkle3T2BDiTG6OwX_F1AF4mua2XBTqO2LOkgfKi71c31SIReoDSE, https://nicholasrui.com/research/, https://physics.berkeley.edu/research/astrophysics, and https://www.facebook.com/events/2562215153873238/

"Let's Learn About Lysosomes" - An Interview with Gouri Yogalingam, Ph.D. of BioMarin, Novato

By Shoshana Harlem (MSS Intern, Terra Linda High School)

Dr. Gouri Yogalingam is currently working to develop therapies for treatments of genetically-defined diseases at the Bio Marin Pharmaceutical in Novato. She has already developed enzyme replacement therapy for a rare genetic disease, called mucopolysaccharidosis type Vl. 

1. What made you interested in studying lysosomes?

Dr. Gouri Yogalingam

I was working on lysosomal storage diseases in my PhD and got to know two young boys affected with MPSVI and MPS II, who came to our clinic in Adelaide, South Australia. Their names were Mathew and Vaughan. Over the years they both deteriorated and eventually died. This really affected me, making me realize how important and somewhat overlooked the lysosomal system is in terms of contributing to normal cellular homeostasis, as well as disease pathogenesis when lysosomes stop working. After my PhD I moved to the USA and into other research areas outside of lysosomal storage diseases but I think without realizing it I have always been interested in how lysosomes contribute to not only lysosomal storage diseases but also more common diseases that we all know about, like cancer and heart disease.

2. How do lysosomes contribute to cancer progression and cardiovascular disease?

In cancer cells the anti-cancer drug known as imatinib stops Abl kinase signaling and down-regulates autophagy, a lysosomal-mediated process that cancer cells have been reported to hijack to grow faster. In cardiovascular disease, a delta protein kinase C peptide inhibitor drug helps to up-regulate mitophagy, a cardio-protective lysosomal-mediated process that helps to remove damaged mitochondria in cardiomyocytes following myocardial infarction.

3. What are some benefits of lysosomes? In other words, how are they good for a person?

Think of lysosomes as the recycling center of your cells. If your lysosomes stop working old, damaged proteins and organelles build up and promote cellular damage.

4. What advice would you have to people who want to study lysosomes?

I don’t think anyone would graduate from high school wanting to specifically work on the humble old lysosome! My advice is to always think beyond the lysosome. I have several interests outside of lysosomes. For me my interest in lysosomes was because of a very emotional experience, seeing young children affected with lysosomal storage diseases passing away. The truth is that many of these kids still die and some of these diseases cannot be effectively treated with our current technologies. So perhaps the young scientists out there should take up the cause and get into this field of human disease with a fresh outlook and novel approaches that us oldies have not thought of. Assuming that high school students know that lysosomes are truly what they want to study then I guess that they should go to college and learn about cell and organelle biology. They can always reach out to me, and I'll point them in the right direction if they want to work in a lysosomal lab!

5. What has been your favorite project involving lysosomes that you have worked on?

There are many. I recently worked on a project at BioMarin, where we evaluated enzyme replacement therapy for the neurodegenerative lysosomal storage disease GM1 gangliosidosis. That was fun. We learned a lot of new things about the disease. The work that I care about the most was about a boy who was affected with another lysosomal storage disease, MPS IIIB. He passed away in his 30s after suffering from progressive neurodegeneration. I learned all about this patients genetic mutations. We worked out how the inherited mutations in this patient resulted in his unusually protracted disease symptoms. There is also the story about a naturally occurring form of MPS VI in cats, which I'll talk about at the Marin Science Seminar. Just like humans, even cats can inherit these devastating lysosomal storage disease. We learned that an extremely mild form of MPS VI can disguise itself as a very mild form of skeletal dysplasia - in cute, fluffy cats!

Want to learn more about Gouri Yogalingam and lysosomes? Join us on Wednesday, November 6, 2019 at Terra Linda High School from 7:30 PM - 8:30 PM in Room 207!

http://marinscienceseminar.com/lets-learn-about-lysosomes-wth-dr-gouri-yogalingam-of-biomarin/?fbclid=IwAR2hG7W2XGVQO6WYU41HcipuQ3Hcf5X0MPlI88GV-h3WPndP8quN3O9zhSc

Learn more at https://www.biomarin.com/, https://www.linkedin.com/in/gouri-yogalingam-b0912821, http://www.marinscienceseminar.com/mssarchive/speakers/gyogalingam.html, and https://www.facebook.com/events/1882261778587280/

"Bad Blood: Battling Cancer in the U.S. and Vietnam" - An Interview with Michelle Hermiston, Ph.D. M.D. of UCSF

By Shoshana Harlem (MSS Intern, Terra Linda High School) 

Dr. Michelle Hermiston,  M.D. Ph.D. is director of the pediatric immunotherapy program at UCSF. She studies blood cancers in children and also works in Vietnam developing infrastructure for pediatric oncology.

  1. What made you interested in doing cancer outreach work in Vietnam? 

I am passionate about curing children with cancer. The cure rates for children with cancer in the United States is approaching 85% due to advances in basic research and clinical trials. However, 80% of children with cancer live in low or middle income countries (LMIC) where outcomes range from 5-40%. 

   2. What infrastructure have you already developed in Vietnam for children with cancer and other blood diseases? 

Our team at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals Oakland and San Francisco have been working with an international team of investigators to improve childhood cancer outcomes. We are using an implementation science approach. So far, we have performed a needs assessment involving all hospitals nationally that care for kids with cancer. Out initial interventions have focused on education, establishing a platform for kids with cancer. Our initial interventions have focused on education, establishing a platform for data collection for quality improvement and eventual clinical studies purposes, and development of uniform treatment protocols. 

   3. What is your role of the director of the pediatric immunotherapy program at UCSF? 

I oversee the development and implementation of our pediatric immunotherapy program. I am the principle investigator for several chimeric antigen receptor t (car-t) cell trials and oversee the care of these patients. 

   4. What are the best parts of your job? 

There is nothing better than curing a child of cancer and giving them a second change at life. No two days are the same. I have the privilege to work with an amazing interprofessional team. The children and their families I care for are inspiring and strong. I get to learn something new every day and be at the forefront of new technologies. I get to take this knowledge to a LMIC setting where I have the opportunity to improve outcomes for even more kids. 

   5. What are the hardest parts of your job? 

The hardest part is when a child's cancer is smarter than our best science. Our work is not done until we can cure every child, no matter what zipcode they happen to randomly be born into. 

Want to learn more about Michelle Hermiston and cancer? Join us on Wednesday, October 9, 2019 at Terra Linda High School from 7:30 PM - 8:30 PM in Room 207!

http://marinscienceseminar.com/mssarchive/speakers/hermiston.html

Learn more at http://cancer.ucsf.edu/people/profiles/hermiston_michelle.3489, https://www.ucsfbenioffchildrens.org/michelle.hermiston, and https://www.facebook.com/events/2349830128420058/

Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Artificial Intelligence, 3D Animation, and Einstein's Theory of Gravity

  By Shoshana Harlem, Terra Linda High School
http://marinscienceseminar.com/ai-vr-3d-amazing-applications-for-understanding-physics-with-david-levitt-ph-d-9-25-19/

Headsets are used in virtual reality.

     Virtual reality is when a computer generates an artificial simulation. By simulating a person's vision and hearing, virtual reality makes a person feel like they are experiencing the video game firsthand. To experience virtual reality, people wear a headset. There are two main reasons why people use virtual reality. One is for entertainment and gaming (E.g.: computer and video games, 3D movies) because it helps create and enhance an imaginary reality. Virtual reality is also used to help train for real-life situations by creating a simulation. This helps people be able to practice the situation beforehand, and therefore be prepared if and when the situation comes up in real life. Pilots often use flight simulators to train for real-life situations.

Augmented reality

     Augmented reality is a technology that uses computer-generated enhancements in order to give people an opportunity to interact with the situation. Augmented reality is used in apps and electronics. It is used in many situations such as to display the scores on sports games, have 3D emails pop out, along with phones and text messages on electronic devices. People are also using augmented reality to create motion activated commands on electronics, such as Iphones.

Artificial intelligence 

     Artificial intelligence is an area of computer science that creates machines that work and function like humans. It runs smart machines. Artificial intelligence is used in everyday lives such as SIRI, google search, and even self-driving cars. People have conflicting views on artificial intelligence and often debate whether it is safe. Artificial intelligence is good because it helps people complete tasks in their daily lives, which saves people time and energy. Another reason why artificial intelligence is good is because it helps people with disabilities such as helping visually-impaired people or people with hearing impairments with translations. For people who can't communicate that well, artificial intelligence can provide communication technologies. On the other hand, some people argue that artificial intelligence is not good because sometimes it fails and can land people in dangerous situations. For instance, a self-driving car might not see another car when merging into a lane and might therefore cause an accident.

3D animation helps explain Einstein's Theory of
Gravity. 

     3D animation can help people see Albert Einstein's Theory of Gravity. Einstein visualized that gravity is not a force and instead is a curvature of time and space which is caused by energy and mass. Einstein said that gravity and acceleration are the same thing. Meanwhile, Isaac Newton thought that gravity was separate from acceleration. 3D animation allows people to run physics experiments to test Einstein's theories. The physics experiments show how gravity works, where people's weight comes from, and the effect of mass.

     To learn more about virtual reality, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, 3D animation, and Einstein's Theory of Gravity, come to the Marin Science Seminar at Terra Linda High School in room 207 on Wednesday, September 25. David Levitt of Pantomime Corporation will be speaking. Join us and learn!

Sources:
1. https://www.augment.com/blog/virtual-reality-vs-augmented-reality/
2. https://futureoflife.org/background/benefits-risks-of-artificial-intelligence/?cn-reloaded=1
3. https://www.techopedia.com/definition/190/artificial-intelligence-ai
4. https://www.itu.int/en/mediacentre/backgrounders/Pages/artificial-intelligence-for-good.aspx
5. https://medium.com/@davidlevitt/the-secret-truth-about-gravity-f33f69eba7ef
6. http://discovermagazine.com/2019/may/how-to-understand-einsteins-theory-of-gravity

AI, VR, & 3D: Amazing Applications for Understanding Physics

Marin Science Seminar for Teens & Community presents a free event:

“AI, VR, & 3D: Amazing Applications for Understanding Physics” (plus learn about Swift mobile software development) with David Levitt of Pantomime Corp.

Date: Wed. September 25th, 2019; 7:30 – 8:30 pm at Terra Linda HS in San Rafael, Room 207

Dr. Levitt will present on augmented/virtual reality and Artifical Intelligence, and will show how 3D animation helps us visualize Einstein’s theory of gravity. He will also give a pep talk about becoming a self-taught Swift mobile software developer.

Dr. David Levitt is a cognitive scientist, artificial intelligence researcher, virtual and augmented reality innovator, mobile software developer, entrepreneur, physicist and writer. He was on the founding team of the MIT Media Laboratory, on the team at VPL Research that created the first commercial virtual reality systems, and he was a co-founder of Atari research laboratories. Levitt’s doctoral thesis ‘A Representation for Musical Dialects’ includes algorithms for classical and jazz composition and improvisation, such as piano arrangements in Fats Waller’s style. Levitt holds patents for inventions in virtual and augmented reality, and intelligent media processing software. He earned his doctorate in Artificial Intelligence at MIT and his BS in Engineering and Applied Science at Yale. Prof. Levitt has taught at MIT, NYU and SRJC.