Our group will compare the power consumption of three different flash drives (all USB 2.0 drives) in uploading and downloading files. We plan on using the Watts Up pro power analyzer to carry out this task. We will also investigate historical trends in memory costs as well as the role that lasers, light, and electricity play in flash drives.
Taken from Wikipedia
http://www.naoj.org/Pressrelease/2006/11/20/fig3_e.jpg
In this creative project, we will investigate the topic of laser guide stars. Laser guide stars are lasers which provide an adequately bright reference in the sky which adaptive optics systems, such as the Keck Observatory, can use to change its mirror shape in order to correct for atmospheric disturbances of light.
http://spie.org/Images/Graphics/Newsroom/Imported/1570/1570_fig1.jpg
We will explore this relationship in the form of a love ballad or poem. The mirror must change itself in response to the laser in order to achieve its maximum potential and a clear perspective on its goals, much like a person can reach new heights through the power of love.
Michael "King of Explosions" Bay
Action movies have never been known for adhering to the theories of modern physics. Instead, they often deviate into a world where gravity exists to a much lesser extent and super human feats are commonplace. Our group has decided to find the most ridiculous (read: humorous) examples of over the top Physics- someone has to stop these kids from jumping off their roofs with capes.
Controversy erupted in 2010 when the use of full body scanners was included in the enhanced security procedures implemented by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The devices, which produce “naked” images of passengers through the use of radio waves and X-rays, are able to detect plastic and chemical explosives similar to that used by “underwear bomber” Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab in December 2009.
Critics, however, suggest that full-body scanners may not have detected Abdulmutallab’s explosives, calling the overall effectiveness of the technology into question. Moreover, experts have yet to reach a consensus on the health risks posed by the devices.
We intend to conduct a theoretical investigation of the safety and efficacy of these machines in order to determine how potential gains in air safety measure up to potential losses in personal health and privacy.
For our project, we plan to explore some of the concepts that arise in Doctor Who. One concept that we will discuss is the planet orbiting a black hole in the episode “The Impossible Planet”. We would like to discuss what forces would enable this orbiting to occur.
We will also investigate the quantum mechanical concepts involved in the series’ alternate realities, including a discussion of the possibility of jumping between these realities.
Moreover, we will analyze the feasibility of laser and electrical weapons as they are portrayed on the show multiple times, especially in the Dalek race.
We will present this project as a paper/extended blog post with embedded video clips demonstrating the concepts in question.
Confronted with a huge variety of digital and analog formats, and music coming from an increasingly diverse array of sources, it may be difficult for a consumer of music to accurately assess the quality of the product he/she is getting. But then the question arises: Can the human ear really tell the difference between digital and analog, and between different degrees of compression? What sorts of variations can the ear pick up in frequency ranges and distortion? By testing a broad range of subjects against sets of formats, samples of music, and compressions, we hope to learn just how discerning the human ear can be.
For our project we propose to make an educational science video in the style of Bill Nye the Science Guy. It will include a theme song and lesson about laser safety and precautions. In our video we plan to demonstrate the dangers of each class of lasers what safety measures are necessary to work with such.
In light of the nuclear radiation threats in the fukushima-daiichi power plant in Japan, we want to do a quantitative study of the effects of a nuclear meltdown. By collecting data on the number of people exposed, comparing levels of exposure to radiation workers, and performing shielding measurement experiments. Our goal is to better understand, quantitatively, the extent of the dangers related with the nuclear explosion.
Jackie, member of Group 13, in Vassar's EEG lab
Memory manipulation and the idea that one’s thoughts could be recorded and “read” by another person show up in many science fiction films, such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Inception, and Minority Report. These films inspire our project: We intend to explore the science of “mind-reading.” We will look at primary literature in the field to investigate how technology such as fMRI and electroencephalography (EEG) can be used to measure the electrical and magnetic activity of brains. Applications of such technology, if it works reliably to access people’s thoughts, memories, and dreams, would be widespread, from assessing psychological conditions to lie detection in criminal cases. We will present the results of our investigation in a poster.
As one of the most expensive colleges in the nation, Vassar’s room and board fees are estimated at $10, 430 for the upcoming school year. Though this covers many services, one wonders what the actual cost of living at Vassar is. Using the Watts Up Pro, we will attempt to estimate the energy consumption of a typical Vassar student throughout the course of a school year and how much this costs the college.
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