ISSUE 2 | APRIL 2020 - Queensland Academy for Science Mathematics ...
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tem ISSUE 2 | APRIL 2020 S NEWS MAGAZINE
A message from your
editors
AMY ELKOMOS AND HAZEL HOGAN
Hello and Welcome! to the second edition of the QASMT STEM magazine! We are both
year 12 Science Ambassadors and have recently spent a lot of time compiling articles
written by the amazing students of our school for you to enjoy! This magazine contains a
broad variety of articles related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics. We
are certain that there’s something here for everyone.
We would like to sincerely thank everyone who contributed to the creation of this
magazine. Thank you to all the students who put time and effort into writing a piece for
this publication, no one would be reading this if it weren’t for you. This magazine truly
symbolises the unity of our student body and how we’ve continued to unite despite the
physical distancing throughout this pandemic. We especially appreciate all of Dr Hogg’s
commitments to science at QASMT. She has guided us through the making of this
magazine with endless suggestions and support and we could never thank her enough.
If you especially enjoy any of the articles in this newsletter, don’t be afraid to let the writer
know!
We hope that everyone is staying safe and healthy right now. Please remember to reach
out if you need support. We wish everyone a great start to term two, remember to look
after your physical and mental health and check up on your friends and family.
Best wishes and happy reading!
P.S. keep your eyes peeled for a compilation of science fiction stories written by our year
eight students!
STEM Magazine
contents
03 Foreword
04 STEM
06 ISSF
08 NYSF
09 Relativity
10 Cafe Scientifique
11 Morals and Microbes
12 Did you know?
13 Random Acts of Science
14 QA X QUT research
20 Robocup
21 Digital Warfare
24 Hybrid Engines
25 Bio hybrids
26 Rocket Engines
28 Largest Prime Number\
29 Prevent the spread
SMT STEM MAGAZINE | Issue 2
Science
ISSF 2020
Dr Kirsten Hogg
In early January 3 QASMT students Murphy McDonald Smith, Hayden Greer and Poorvi Malik
travelled with Mr Hunter and Mrs De Freitas Pessoa to Rayong Thailand to attend the 2020
International Student Science Fair (http://app.kvis.ac.th/issf2020/index.html). The fair was hosted
by the Kamnoetvidya Science Academy (KVIS) and the students experienced a modern and
advanced science school campus as well as traditional Thai culture.
Poorvi presented the results of her work on the production and testing of Biofuel derived from
waste canola oil. Murphy and Hayden presented the results of their simulation to determine the
number of interstellar asteroids in the solar system. The students presented research posters
and gave oral presentations which were very well received. The students were welcomed by Dr
Thanit Pewnim, Professor of Chemistry at Silpakorn University Sanamchandra Palace and KVIS
adviser who admired the quality of their work.
Murphy and Hayden’s work received the prize for Best Social Inspiration for the Physics
category at the closing ceremony – congratulations.
Current Year 10 students will have an opportunity to apply to attend ISSF 2021 later in the
year. Please contact Dr Hogg for more information.
Murphy's article on their experience at ISSF can be found on page ?
SMT STEM MAGAZINE | Issue 2
ISSF 2020
Murphy McDonald Smith - Year 11
In January this year, before all the covid-19 action arose, Poorvi, Hayden and I went to KVIS in Thailand
for ISSF. It was an awesome experience and I learnt heaps and made a few really good friends.
The project Hayden and I did for ISSF was one where we determined the number of interstellar asteroids
within our solar system. Firstly, the definition of an interstellar asteroid/object is that they are located in
interstellar space and are not gravitationally bound to a star. For our project, we started by calculating the
probability that an asteroid would be ejected from an exoplanetary system.
In order to determine the probability of an asteroid escaping a planetary system, we developed a program
to simulate a simple planetary system containing a single star, planet and asteroid. The simulation
operated by calculating the force exerted on each body. It then moved each object over discrete time
periods. The simulation continuously checked if the asteroid had reached escape velocity.
To ensure that the simulation provided a realistic description of interstellar asteroid ejection, the
properties of the stars and planets simulated were selected from NASA’s exoplanet archive. Two systems
were simulated, HATS-24 and Kepler-18. For both systems, the ‘B’ planet was chosen for simulation.
These exoplanets were picked as representations of the two most common types of planets. HATS-24b is
a hot Jupiter, similar in characteristics to many known exoplanets. Kepler-18b is a prime example of a
terrestrial planet known as a super-Earth (if we had more time we would have simulated more types).
Overall, the simulation data and other necessary equations suggest that there are between 60 and 27
interstellar asteroids within the orbit of Neptune at any given time. It also suggests that there are between
2 and 1 interstellar asteroids within the orbit of Saturn. The averages of these values are 43.5 interstellar
asteroids within the orbit of Neptune and 1.5 within the orbit of Saturn. The density equation predicts that
there are 39 interstellar asteroids constantly within the orbit of Neptune and 1.5 interstellar asteroids
within the orbit of Saturn.
Our investigation concluded that there are approximately 43 interstellar asteroids in the Solar System at
any given time, with the finding considered accurate as it is within 9% of the predicted value from the
papers we read. Such a high density of interstellar asteroids highlights a deficiency in our current sky
surveys as only two such asteroids have been detected and there are many sky surveys attempting to
detect interstellar asteroids. The inherent difficulty in detecting interstellar asteroids and their abundance
in the Solar System suggests that more should be done to combat their threat to our planet and perhaps
with a greater urgency. SMT STEM MAGAZINE | Issue 2
NYSF 2020
Dr Kirsten Hogg
The photo is of a giant slinky spring acquired by Emma Bures and Skye Baldock at NYSF.
Congratulations to Skye Baldock, Finn Blain, Emma Bures, Anisha Mujib,
Clinton Ngo and Emma Pietsch for being selected to attend the National
Youth Science Forum in Canberra this January.
NYSF is a 10 day science immersion program for students all over Australia. The program is
for students commencing their final year of secondary school study. Students are selected
through their Rotary District and participate in Science talks, laboratory visits, industry visits,
field trips, hands on experimental work, cultural and social activities. Students stay at ANU
residential colleges and form long term friendships with like-minded students from all over
the country.
Unfortunately due to the terrible bushfires on the NSW south coast, Canberra was blanketed
in thick smoke for most of January and NYSF 2020 was cancelled. This is the first time NYSF
was cancelled in its 35 year history.
EXPLORE WHAT' S INSIDE
THIS ISSUE:
Taking interior design
Applications
photos -3 for NYSF 2021 will be open until June 14. Year 11 students are advised to
contact Dr Hogg for more information. www.nysf.edu.au
SMT STEM MAGAZINE | Issue 2
Special and general relativity
Lan Lai - Year 7
Albert Einstein’s most influential contribution to physics must be his theories of special and general relativity,
which transformed our intuition of how space, time and gravity work. Firstly, these theories were born from a
desire to understand certain phenomena and thought experiments in Einstein’s mind.
Experiments have shown that the speed of light in a vacuum, no matter how fast it goes relative to an observer, is
constant. According to the current theory of relativity, Galilean relativity says that the speed of light should
appear to go faster or slower relative to other moving objects. This was a major problem at the time and Einstein,
when he thought about it for a long time, he realised, if you keep the speed of light constant, no matter what, then
light relative to a moving perspective will travel a different distance, yet if the speed of light remains constant,
then from a “stationary” perspective, the light will seem to travel different distances at the same speed, concluding
that time must go slower for the moving perspective. This is time dilation, which eventually led to Einstein’s
special theory of relativity, which states that when the speed of light is constant for all observers, time and space
change with velocity. This was confirmed due to a century of experiments being performed to test Einstein’s
theory after he published it in 1905.
Soon after that, Einstein’s mathematics teacher, Hermann Minkowski, realised that the strange effects of special
relativity could be accounted for by merging 3-dimensional space and 1-dimensional time, into a 4-dimensional
spacetime, and this spacetime was altered by the Lorentz transformation, a transformation of spacetime that
changes between perspectives. This insight allowed Einstein to formulate his general theory of relativity. Einstein
realised that his special theory of relativity could be generalised to the entire universe and includes gravity, where
it is described as a curvature of spacetime created by energy, momentum and pressure and predicts many effects
that Newton’s theory of gravity does not, such as gravitational lensing, time dilation, black holes and much more
and has been experimentally confirmed by numerous tests. This goes to show that space and time are not absolute
and instead merge into a single spacetime that curves and changes with velocity, energy, momentum and pressure,
which is the single biggest insight of general relativity
SMT STEM MAGAZINE | Issue 2
CAFE SCIENTIFIQUE
JASMINE JUNAWAN - YEAR 12 - JOHN MONASH SCIENCE SCHOOL
Hi QASMT...
Last year I was lucky enough to be able to visit your school at Cafe
Scientifique, I am from John Monash Science School in Melbourne.
It was really fun to see some of what Queensland’s science has to offer, I
will make no comment on which state was better (mine). Your sandwich
choices were amazing, and it was great to meet some people I didn’t
know, like Hazel and Nazeef.
One of my favourite projects that I saw was on how to mitigate the
effects of smoking, presented by one of the rural students, Annabel.
If you would like to hear about my research, which was also
presented at the Korea Science Academy Science Fair in 2019,
alongside some cool projects about space time distortion and
polymerisation of nylon, here is my abstract.
Green tea - a key player in the future of regenerative medicine?
The consumption of green tea has been proven to be beneficial for the health of individuals, for instance, it can
promote weight loss, as well as improve brain function. Previous research has suggested that there is a correlation
between the increase of certain hormones that are associated with stem cell growth and green tea, these are found in
both humans and planaria. Planaria are flatworms that utilise pluripotent stem cells to regenerate when injured.
Similar pluripotent stem cells are also found in humans, but in smaller concentrations. This, and planaria’s specific
use of stem cells is why it was chosen over other regenerating organisms. Ethics was also a consideration. As
planaria lack pain receptors and would not be mentally harmed by the cutting process, it was deemed ethically
acceptable to be researched on.
This experiment explores the effects that green tea has on the proliferation of stem cells in planaria. The method
chosen used pure green tea extract at different concentrations, and planaria with a transverse dissection which
created a head and tail fragment that were placed in the dishes of green tea solution. Over the course of eight days
the fragments were measured with a ruler, to access the growth rate compared with a control group.
The results of the project have shown that green tea has a positive effect on stem cell growth in planaria, with an
average growth rate ten times more per day when immersed in green tea solution compared to the control.
To conclude, green tea may have a positive impact on stem cell growth, but further research and testing, such as in
other organisms that are more genetically similar to humans, is needed. With recent interest growing in the use of
stem cells in healing injuries and creating new organs, technology where the process of growing stem cells within
labs could be sped up, could help bring this future closer to reality.
SMT STEM MAGAZINE | Issue 2MORALS AND MICROBES
Nemo Ryan - Year 12
As every biology student knows, any experiment involving vertebrates requires complex ethical
approvals, but one’s experimentation on any other organism, especially bacteria, is totally ethical.
But why should this be the case? Reading journal articles by Charles S. Cockell on the ethics of
microbiology, I was interested in his proposal that ethical considerations, and even legal protections,
should be extended to microbes. Hence, this article will summarise and extend the points made by
Cockell.
The key to his argument, best articulated in his 2008 article for EMBO Reports, was the merit of
microorganisms – initially introduced through an industrial lens, having noted, for example, the
importance of conserving bacteria vital to the food industry, like the Lactobacillus family and cheese.
He linked this to a controversial, moral approach towards our obligations regarding microbes.
Respect, a major ideal of mankind, supported this; these organisms have biological goals, even
“interests”, such as reproduction, so Cockell argued that we should respect these goals, by
conserving their populations where possible.
The level of protections suggested were implied by his revisiting of the contentious views of
microbiologist Bernard Dixon – one who questioned whether even choosing to eradicate the
smallpox virus, in 1976, was ethical. However, the author did note that most human needs should
be prioritised above those of microbes; a topical disclaimer, given the current state of global affairs.
Furthermore, Cockell has debated for legal protections for microorganisms being equal to
macroorganisms, in his 2008 paper from Ethics and the Environment. As succinctly stated by the
author, “Environmental policy has a size bias”. While attempts are made to legislate to conserve
macroorganisms from snake to sequoia, as of yet, no bacterium or virus has been given equal
privileges. Superficial reasons behind this blindsiding, such as visibility, were offered, but swiftly
countered, before deeper justifications were explored. Cockell acknowledged the insentience of
microbes as an accurate criticism, but denounced rarity as an metric for moral value, through the
analogy of a human child made “rarer” by their sibling’s death. He concluded that the reasons
provided for the moral insignificance of microbes were insufficient to justify a lack of conservation
efforts, suggesting moral questions remain unanswered.
As shown above, Cockell’s articles rarely demand rushed action or condemnation – only reflection upon
one’s own ethical decisions. And having personally reflected, I never thought I’d feel guilty about
throwing away those agar plates.
SMT STEM MAGAZINE | Issue 2CSIRO - DOUBLE HELIX
DID YOU KNOW?
OMG! WOW>
HISTORY > A CLOUD CAN WEIGH OVER
A MILLION POUNDS !
HOW LONG WAS A
ccording to scientists, the weight of the average
A DINO'S DAY?
cumulus cloud is 1.1 million pounds! Think about that for a
moment. This means that at any given moment, there are
millions of pounds of water floating above your head.
T he dinosaurs lived many millions of That’s the equivalent of 100 elephants.So, how does that
years ago. Since then, many things have much weight stay afloat? For one thing, the weight is
changed about our planet. The oceans and spread out into millions of droplets over a really big space.
continents have shifted, ecosystems have Some of the droplets are so small that you would need a
changed and lots of species – including
million of them to make a single raindrop.
dinosaurs – have become extinct. Even the
BY 'HEAD'S UP'
regular patterns of sunrise and sunset
might have drifted. But without looking in
a Cretaceous calendar, how can we learn
about a dinosaur’s day?The answer was
found hiding in a fossilised shell from the
late Cretaceous period, about 70 million
years ago. Belgian scientists noted that the
shell came in tiny layers, each thinner than
a sheet of paper.Like tree rings, the layers
show how the creature grew over time.
One layer represents a day of growth in
these shells. These layers also changed with
the seasons, allowing the scientists to see
both years and days in the same
This is NOT how to bend a diamond!
SCI BUZZ >
shell.When the team counted the layers in
HOW DO YOU BEND A DIAMOND?
one year of growth, they didn’t find 365.
Instead, this ancient shell had 372 daily
layers for each year of growth!As surprising
as it might seem, other scientists had D iamonds are amazing crystals. A repeating To try and understand what had
already predicted this outcome. Earth’s pattern of pure carbon atoms, they’re famous for
happened, the researchers recreated a
days are getting longer, so fewer fit into a being the hardest substance in the world. Yet, an
needle in a computer program. As the
year. Astronomers know this from studying Australian team of scientists have just managed to
needle started to bend, the atoms inside
records of eclipses from thousands of years bend diamonds. So how did they do it?First, you
ago. And physicists can measure the length rearranged themselves into a different
need very special diamonds. Researchers from
of a day using super-accurate atomic pattern. It had changed from diamond
University of Technology Sydney and Curtin
clocks.But don’t worry about your calendar into a different substance: one that no-
University grew several tiny needles of diamond.
getting out of order! A day now is only
These needles were extremely small – much one had ever seen before.The team have
about 1.7 milliseconds longer than a
shorter than a hair is wide, and maybe only 50 named this brand-new form of carbon
century ago. And if things get too out of
hand, scientists sometimes add an extra atoms wide.To bend the needles, the team used ‘O8’. They don’t know much about it,
second to the year – known as a leap static electricity. As the charge built up, the except that it appears stable and it’s less
second – to keep everything lined up! needles were pushed harder and harder until they dense than diamond. It looks like there’s
BY DAVID FROM CSIRO broke. Many of the needles snapped. But some of plenty more to learn about bendy
them stayed in one piece and bent over instead! diamonds. BY DAVID FROM CSIRO
SMT STEM MAGAZINE | Issue 2Random Acts of
Science
HAZEL HOGAN - YEAR 12 SCIENCE AMBASSADOR
The Science Ambassadors, led by our Science Director, Kat Wheadon held the
Random Acts of Science lunchtime event for students in years seven and eight in
early March. There were five activities available for students to participate in:
making ice cream, corn flour slime, bubbles, jellybean DNA and microwave
marshmallows. Each activity demonstrated a different scientific phenomenon in
an exiting way!
All the science ambassadors had a great time and we hope that all our
participants enjoyed the activities that were on offer. Thank you to everyone
who came along and made the event so great. We hope to offer more scientific
activities for you to participate in sometime in the future!
SMT STEM MAGAZINE | Issue 2QAXQUT
Research
Programme
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pages!Amy
Elkomos
Hey Everyone!
My name is Amy, over the past few months I have had the phenomenal opportunity and hence
have been working alongside some inspiring professors and a PHD student from the Institute of
Health and Biomedical Innovation to investigate new methods of creating biodegradable plastics
and the methods in which they degrade within different environments. Here is my journey!
Plastic is one of the most prevalent global pollutants, and the problem stems from the extensive
time of decades and sometimes centuries required for plastic to degrade. This means that
plastic pollution of the oceans as well as landfill becomes an increasingly large issue impacting
the biodiversity of the Earth’s ecosystem’s globally.
Recently, scientists globally have been trying to find a universal alternative for plastic, but with
similar physical properties that allow it to be used in the same way. For my research, I specifically
explored the use of cactus pads, yes cactus pads, as a key ingredient in the creation of
biodegradable plastic!
After doing a little bit of research, I found a scientist who had created a method of creating a
biodegradable plastic from the cactus and it took me a little while but I created 8 different types
of this plastic, that all vary in physical properties and hence, can be potentially used for different
applications, for example, single use flexible plastic bags or hard toys.
I brought those to the IHBI lab, and I tested them in different pH’s to see 1) how fast they
degrade and also 2) how they degrade in those mediums. Of equal interest, I also used a tensile
testing machine to stretch each of my plastic samples, to see if they would be fit for the use of
something like a plastic bag.
My results were fascinating, I found that the plastics degraded very quickly and were quite
flexible and fit for use in many different things.
Here are some images of the plastic I’ve made:Kat
Wheadon
The IHBI student research program was an incredibly fascinating and intriguing
opportunity which allowed me to study an area of interest in real-world research
facilities under the guidance of experts and erudite doctorate students. I was able
to learn more about 3D printing, scientific testing methods, and coding whilst
utilising the technology at the institute to investigate my research area relating to
the effect of varying temperate environments upon bone grafts. Thus, enabling me
to both become aware of real-world scientific processes and work together with
high ranking scientists and experts in the field.
All the staff and researchers at the facility were absolutely wonderful and made
themselves readily available whenever I was in need of assistance. The help
provided by them was wonderful and I never felt bad asking questions, if anything
they encouraged me to move outside of my comfort zone, explaining different
processes and tools and allowing me to
engage with them.
I truly enjoyed the program itself and it has served to further my interests in the
scientific fields, whilst also providing me with contacts within different scientific
areas. Furthermore, I was able to discuss university life and the general working
lives of researchers so that I could fully understand what the career was like. I
would definitely recommend the program
to anyone interested in the scientific fields.
SMT STEM MAGAZINE | Issue 2Riya
Chumble
I am Riya Chumble, a current Yr.12 student. Over the course of the IB Diploma
Programme I’ve been exposed to a lot of learning activities. One of these is the
QA-QUT IHBI Research Project. I took part in the 2019/2020 QA-QUT. Research
Project, in which we get to conduct our own research with scientists/research
from QUT.
scientists/ research from QUT. The research project gave me a chance to work
with scientists and explore the environment in research labs. The most exciting
and fun part of this project was to work with real liver tissue and test different
detergent protocols. The research project I conducted was on hydrogels. We
formed LivMA (liver hydrogels) through decellularizing liver tissues over the
course of 20 days. After which they were tested with five different detergent
protocols over the course of five days. Then we conducted tests on each of the
protocols to see which protocol reduced the DNA content. After testing this, we
formed hydrogels out of the tissues which had the least DNA content present.
After which we did mechanical testing on the strength of the hydrogels formed.
Based on the mechanical testing we were meant to choose certain batch of
hydrogels in which we add live liver tissue to see if the liver tissue can grow in
that environment.
During this process, we faced several issues. One of the main issues was that we
had to repeat our decellularization process and conduct testing with the
protocols again as in the first trial there was not enough content left to form
hydrogels out off, furthermore the quality of the hydrogels would have been very
bad and difficult to conduct any further tests on. This affected the further tests
we were meant to conduct and became time consuming in terms redoing a lot of
the process.
One of the best parts of working at QUT was the support I received
from the researchers/ scientists there. Working with them was a whole new
learning experience as I got to see how scientists really work and how
different it is from the normal classroom science. SMT STEM MAGAZINE | Issue 2Biomimicry in the Engineering of
Bactericidal Nanostructures
During my summer holidays I had the opportunity to work with Professor
Prasad Yarlagadda and his team at QUT on designing Bactericidal surfaces.
This means that we were studying how to design surfaces that passively kill
bacteria, which would allow for cleaner environments and lessen the
spread of diseases. Like many human problems, nature has already come
up with a solution: bumpy surfaces. Well, bumpy on the microscopic scale.
For instance, many insect wings have a huge number of bumpy structures.
The “peaks” and “valleys” of these surfaces make it almost impossible for
bacteria to survive on these wings because they are ruptured before they
can colonise it! The diagram below provides a good visual of the process.
On a smooth surface, it is very easy for bacteria to thrive; however, as the
surface becomes more rough, fewer bacteria are able to live on it. As you
can imagine, this can have many applications for human use. The two main
applications being investigated by the QUT team are for titanium medical
implants as well as general aluminium surfaces. This is significant as
traditional titanium implants often fail due to bacterial infections, requiring
expensive and dangerous corrective surgeries. These nanostructured
implants, would provide a much needed solution to this problem.
Furthermore, there are many applications for general aluminium surfaces
as well. If implemented in public spaces, it could help prevent the spread of
diseases (and possibly help prevent another global pandemic). In such a
short piece, I couldn’t possibly fully explain the science behind this
technology, so I suggest you all investigate this topic as it is truly fascinating!
SMT STEM MAGAZINE | Issue 2 By Amogh Durgam, Year 12Technology
ROBOCUP 2018
By Jack Lord
Year 12 Technology Ambassador
Two years ago, I participated in the robotics competition, Robocup in the
secondary rescue category, representing QASMT. There were other
ygolonhceT
categories that QASMT students competed in including Maze Rescue and
Soccer. This competition required my team to construct a robot that was
capable of following a line, avoiding obstacles and choosing between 2
paths based on the colour of a tile beneath the robot. The robot (assuming it
successfully navigated the path) would ultimately enter a “spill zone”
wherein it had to control a soft drink can and relocate it outside the “spill
zone”. This complex and multi-faceted task was accomplished through the
use of modular programming, by separating the multiple tasks into sub-
programs that were embedded in each other in order to allow easier
organisation and maintenance of the overall program.
Initially, it was planned for the robot to turn immediately when its left or
right colour sensors detected a change in colour. However, this was changed
in favour of using a linear mathematical function, enabling the robot to turn
to varying degrees based on the reflected light intensity of the two sensors
(light intensity detects portion of line crossed – the ratio between black
colour in the line and white colour of the tile – and therefore the sharpness
of turn needed) thus enabling more efficient turns and an increase in speed.
In order to control the soft drink can and displace it once the “spill zone”
was reached, our robot needed an extension or arm that was able to direct it
to any position or direction if needed. The arm needed to be located at the
front of the robot and thus could not be too heavily weighed as this could
misbalance the robot and potentially cause it to fall or misread sensor
values. In order to overcome these design concerns, a piston grabber hand
system was engineered, managing two pincers powered by a single,
medium-sized (lightweight) motor. This enabled the robot to directly and
effectively control the can without compromising weight.
Ultimately, the rewarding experience taught myself and my peers about
engineering and problem-solving skills specifically concerning the
cooperation and integration of software and hardware components.
By Jack Lord, Year 12, Technology Ambassador
SMT STEM MAGAZINE | Issue 2ygolonhceT
Engineering
BHP FOUNDATION SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING AWARDS
Dr Kirsten Hogg
Congratulations to the following QASMT students and alumni who were semi-finalists
in the 2020 BHP Foundation Science and Engineering Awards
(https://www.scienceawards.org.au/). This is a national competition that receives over
1000 entries from all over Australia. The following students and their projects were
among the 100 national semi-finalists.
Aryaman Sud (Year 12, 2019) Krupesh Machhi (Year 12, 2019) Utkarsh Sharma (Year 12, 2019)
Mechanical strength of Determining distance to Investigation of the Arrhenius
GelMA hydrogels globular cluster NGC362 equation
Congratulations students on having your projects and work
recognised nationally.
There are a number of opportunities for students to
conduct research projects during the year. The Science
Teachers Association of Queensland (STAQ) organises an
annual competition with entries due in September
(http://www.staq.qld.edu.au/competitions/queensland-
science-contest/). Later this year Year 10 students will be
invited to prepare a research project for the International
Helen Butler, Amali Jose and Leisha
Naicker (year 7, 2019)
Student Science Fair
Simulating crater formation on the (http://app.kvis.ac.th/issf2020/index.html). In term 3 Year 7
moon and 8 students may like to participate in the Kids STEM
Convention.
Please contact Dr Hogg or Mrs Pearce for more
SMT STEM MAGAZINE | Issue 2 information.Why hybrid engines are
a better alternative
By Aadi Shetty Year 8
SMT STEM MAGAZINE | Issue 2Biohybrids to help
colonise Mars?
If humans are ever going to colonise the planet
Mars, they’re are going to have to manufacture
their own organic produce. Exciting new
developments of biohybrids have been found to be
able to use sunlight to convert carbon dioxides and
water into building blocks for organic matter –
something Mars colonists will need. The biohybrids
make use of bacteria and nanowires – silicon wires
a hundredth of the with of a human hair – to
accomplish what is effectively a more efficient and
artificial version of photosynthesis. It’s of interest
that this biohybrid is also able to remove excesses
of carbon dioxides from Earth’s atmosphere and
convert them into useful sugars! Clearly this
biohybrid has many uses, not just in space
projects.
By Ian Hillock, Year 12
SMT STEM MAGAZINE | Issue 2d
Rockets pushing bor ers
out of space!
Space travel’s always been hindered by the enormous
fuel requirements. However, scientists have been
recently developing new engines that are more fuel
efficient, lighter and cheaper than the older models.
These engines are called rotating detonation engines.
Why haven’t they been pushed into service, you might
ask? Well, there’s a small problem which lies in the
engine’s name. They rely on detonations or giant
explosions in the rocket’s chambers to produce their
power. And explosions are somewhat dangerous and
uncontrollable…
However, researchers at the University of Washington
are working to model these engines using mathematics
and thus help make them stable enough to be used in
rockets. Hopefully sometime in the near future we’ll see
this engine in use.
SMT STEM MAGAZINE | Issue 2
By Ian Hillock, Year 12Mathematics
Largest Prime Number
We’re all acquainted with prime numbers – those
excruciating things our maths teachers always
go on about that you can only divide by two
integers to find another integer value – one and
the prime number. Easy to identify? Well not
quite. You could easily find the first ten prime
numbers. Or even the first hundred if you were
really dedicated to your maths – but probably
with a little more difficulty. What about the first
a million though? That would be a little more
difficult…
In fact, so hard that mathematicians have to rely
on advanced computer software to discover
such numbers. It may interest you that the
largest known prime number is over 23 million
digits long and recently discovered in 2018 by a
computer belonging to an electrical engineer
who allegedly searched for this number for 14
years! Who knows, maybe one of you will
discover the next record holding prime number?
By Ian Hillock, Year 12
SMT STEM MAGAZINE | Issue 2SMT STEM MAGAZINE | Issue 2
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