What do Jeff Clark and coralline algae have in common?

If it sounds like a strange, and particularly Coastside, riddle, its not. Its just the question posed in Cunha Intermediate School eighth-grader Phoebe Wills science project exploring the growth of the algae at beaches and how it might be influenced by wave intensity. Her colorful poster board was one of dozens lining the Cunha gym on Monday morning, the day the assignment was due.

The science fair has been a long-standing tradition at Cunha. The event is more than 50 years old, and every year it is the culmination of months spent coming up with a project idea, testing a hypothesis and drawing a conclusion from research. Students take on topics ranging from the more traditional the science behind hitting a grand slam to the more unusual. One this year asks whether horses will stand in a different direction depending on the way the wind is blowing.

Eighth-grader Sophia Pappalardos project strikes a balance between a more popular type of science project at Cunha that which delves into psychology and a creative experimental process. She built an electromagnetic grid and asked people of varying ages to copy a paper clip pattern on the grid. What they didnt know as they attempted the seemingly simple task was that Pappalardo was changing the grids polarity behind the scenes, making it impossible for the clips to stick. She took testers blood pressure before and after to test their level of frustration and found that people in her own age group were the most easily peeved by the task.

Im fascinated by sociology and the behavioral element, Pappalardo said. I found it interesting to create a hypothesis about it and research it.

Students tend to pick topics based on existing areas of interest. Thats what Kacey Acosta did. She took a class on food chemistry through Tech Trek, a math and science summer camp for middle school girls, and found the subject fascinating. Her science project asked classmates what they considered to be a serving of Goldfish crackers.

I always thought (food chemistry) was cool, and I thought it would be interesting to do something involving food to test obesity, Acosta said.

Though the science fair poster board tradition may seem a little old-fashioned to some, science teacher Lucinda Hitchner says it has its place in the modern education system. Like school districts across the country, Cabrillo is continuing its transition to Common Core standards, with next-generation science standards to follow. Hitchner says that the skills students learn by developing a science project fall in line with these new standards.

The science fair project works well with those standards because it involves a deeper understanding of the scientific and inquiry method, Hitchner said. We also ask students to do a lot of writing, and in the world today its really valuable to think up a question and research it over a longer period of time.

Today, judges will interview the top students about their projects before deciding on the winners in each category. There will be an open house at 7 tonight in the Cunha gym, where the awards will be announced.

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Eighth-graders get creative at science fair

Written by Illustrated News Staff Friday, 16 January 2015 00:00

Two Herricks High School seniors were named as semi-finalists in the 74th Intel Science Talent Search (Intel STS) competition on Jan. 7. Seniors Abhinav Talwar and Jim Tse were two of the 300 semifinalists throughout the nation to receive the prestigious honor. The semifinalists hail from 460 high schools across the country and were selected from over 1800 applicants. Students from 41 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and five overseas schools conducted independent research on diverse scientific topics in 16 categories.

Talwars two-year research project was completed at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine under the mentorship of Dr. Joel Friedman, department of physiology and biophysics. His project was entitled, Evaluating the Capacity to Generate and Preserve Nitric Oxide Bioactivity in Earthworm Erythrocruorin: A Giant Polymeric Hemoglobin with Potential Blood Substitute Properties.

Tses project was completed at the Leon Root Motion Analysis Laboratory at the Hospital for Special Surgery with mentor Dr. Howard J. Hillstrom. His project was The Effects of Biomechanical Dosage on Osteoarthritis Knee Bracing Using a Novel Total Knee Replacement Prosthesis (e-tibia) to Measure Compressive Joint Forces In Vivo.

Both students have been in the Herricks High School Honors Science Research program for four years. They were each mentored by science research teacher Rene Barcia.

The Intel STS, Americas oldest and most prestigious science competition is often called the Junior Nobel Prize. Originally sponsored by Westinghouse in 1942 and by Intel in 1998, the competition was created to encourage high school seniors who demonstrate exceptional ability in science, math and engineering through individual research projects. Projects submitted for consideration cover all disciplines of science, including biochemistry, chemistry, physics, mathematics, engineering, behavioral science, and medicine and health. The competition is a program of the Society for Science & the Public. The Intel Science Talent Search brings together the best and brightest young scientific minds in America to compete for $1.25 million in awards. Each semifinalist receives a $1,000 award from the Intel Foundation with an additional $1,000 going to his or her respective school, resulting in $600,000 in total semifinalist awards. Additionally, each of the students is eligible to be named as a finalist. The 40 finalists will be named in late January and will move on to compete in Washington, D. C in March.

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Herricks Boasts Two Intel Semifinalists

rocknycliveandrecorded: Brainstorming synesthesia at Sonos Studios
Performance set up by UCLA Professor in department of Design Media Arts, and Director of Art|Sci center, Victoria Vesna, Mark Cohen (UCLA neurology-behavioral science professor) and James ...

By: rocknycliveandrecord

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rocknycliveandrecorded: Brainstorming synesthesia at Sonos Studios - Video

Dr. Leonard Horowitz | Spirit Science, Weaponized Sound, The Frequency Conspiracy
After many moons, we finally got a guest to speak in depth about the 440 Hz conspiracy, the power of frequency and resonance, and how it #39;s been used against the massed in the multi-pronged...

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Dr. Leonard Horowitz | Spirit Science, Weaponized Sound, & The Frequency Conspiracy - Video

Engaging study at UCLA tracks energy consumption
ENGAGE investigates how real-time energy consumption feedback can be used as an effective tool for energy conservation. It applies insights from behavioral science to design optimal interventions...

By: UCLA

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Engaging study at UCLA tracks energy consumption - Video

I had my brain zapped to change my mood, and I lived to tell the tale. At a private demo with Thync at CES 2015, I experienced a futuristic electroshock therapy aimed at making me feel better.

It involved sitting with a small module attached to my forehead for 15 minutes while electric currents passed through my nerves to my brain.

Since the product is still being finalized, Thync declined to let us photograph the prototype module nor describe its shape, offering only screenshots of its app.

I arrived at the suite feeling emotionally distressed by personal matters (mostly my annoying boyfriend) and stressed out about the amount of work on my plate. As a Thync executive explained what the wearable really does, I was immediately keen to see if it could truly take my mind off my woes.

A rep stuck the modules onto my head and neck and started a 15-minute Calm session (I picked Calm, but Energy is an option).

As the program started, dots on the controlling smartphone app started to fill up while the nodes pulsed. I felt a prickling sensation as the current passed through my skin. The reps told me to keep increasing the intensity of the current to the point where it's just barely uncomfortable, using the app. They also instructed me to adjust the current as soon as I got used to a level of intensity. We're curious what the voltage of the max dosage might be.

After 10 minutes of sitting around watching the dots on the screen fill up, I started to feel relaxed and almost drowsy. How much that has to do with finally getting a chance to sit and catch my breath rather than the effects of Thync is hard to tell, but I definitely felt less bothered. The angry butterflies in my stomach seemed to fall asleep, and I could barely muster the wherewithal to recall what had upset me in the first place.

Thync told me the effects of the session would last about a half hour after the session ended. Sure enough, even the sight of an immensely long taxi line after I left the suite did not bother me at all. It was only 20 minutes after the session, when a couple in front of me got too affectionate, that I felt the stirrings of annoyance.

Again, it's difficult to determine how effective Thync was, given the possibility that testers (myself included) could have been experiencing placebo effects. Also, I could have become more relaxed just by sitting in a comfortable, quiet suite for a full 15 minutes -- a luxury most CES reporters don't have.

The company is working with the FDA to make sure its device is safe for general consumption, but was quick to assure me that the device was in no way harmful or invasive. That definitely has yet to be seen.

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Zap Your Brain to Change Your Mood