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Blog 5: Plasma Land and Fun with Books

By dylanoldenburg | Published: July 13, 2009

Today, we observed the plasma machines doing their work, maintaining the perfect temperature for all bonds to be broken, keeping everything in plasma form instead of as atoms. This was interesting because it made me think how interesting it is that everything can maintain its bonds normally, things don’t just fly around breaking covalent bonds in all directions when left alone, instead they usually settle in, with or without entropy (but usually with, according to the Laws of Thermodynamics). Also, plasma can be thought of as the amorphous form of the common shapes in nature. Generally things take shape, except for when they are gases, during which they go every way they can without running directly into the walls (cohesion levels!). We also studied a book collection and learned about the necessities of a book collection, such as keeping books that are being sold and could be helpful to the university, like discoveries and things that students can possibly use with the help of a book professor at the professional level. Also, they contain greeting cards that have humorous effects on the human body. Something I believe that this relates to is shape in literature, because classic books take many shapes. Many allow one to create their own shapes with their own minds, which happens through processes of intuition with intermolecular forces and intramolecular forces, allowing the nuclei to interact with the rest of the cell. A questionable affectation would be to draw all literature themes as circles with equal radii, because that would be inaccurate, as most books at least have an ellipse shape, if not a hyperbola. Ladder Machine

Second part of Machine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langmuir_probe

nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1978/kapitsa-lecture.pdf

www.1stardrive.com/solar/plasma.htm

www.marchplasma.com/pdf/Electrode Temp.pdf

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/plasma_(physics)

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The Simple and Complex

By zacharywong | Published: July 13, 2009

aboriginal-01 I have been drawn toward art all my life, however I do not believe that I am more right brained than left brained; I believe that a brain is just a brain. I am especially drawn toward abstract art, art that deals with zero space and perception. But today an exhibit of Aboriginal Australian art at the Fowler Museum of Cultural History took me by surprise. The exhibit was of traditional Aboriginal ceremonial designs transferred to masonite by members of the Papunya settlement. I was quite fascinated by the Aboriginals’ ability to convey extremely complex ideas through simplicity. Using only a few simple shapes and lines and simple toned colors, the Aboriginals were able to construct intricate designs with incredible meaning. They conveyed their view of the world and its creation through their art in epic tales, religious symbols, and even cartography. One of the paintings, when seen from our naked consumerist eyes, appeared to be a giant circle with two “U”s around it. But when looked upon with a more accepting eye, it was a map of how to get to the nearest watering hole.

main-image The Aboriginal artists used art not only to express their views of the external world but to express their views on the world internal through abstract. What we saw were giant formations of dots, that were supposedly sacred, on huge masonite boards. When seen from straight ahead, the paintings appeared to be moving and breathing and living. These unusually simple and beautiful works of art had the same effect on me as say…the Last Judgment by Michelangelo; an extremely ornate mural of a completely different context. Today’s exhibit defiantly opened my eyes to a whole new world of art and expression. I learned that it is possible that through simplicity, one can achieve the complex. Less is more!

aboriginal_art1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy-2vTs1q5I

http://www.artreview.com.au/art/artandabout/contemporary-australian-aboriginal-artists-dazzle.aspx

http://www.dreamtimeaboriginalart.com/

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Thursday the 9th

By rydermoody | Published: July 13, 2009

Today we looked into new materials. We saw a new type of glass that can be formed at room temperature instead of the extremely high temperatures needed to melt sand. By mixing two substances (one of which was called Sol gel) a goo can be made which then can be dried into glass. This allows living things to be preserved in it.

We also saw solar cell research. Because today’s solar panels are so expensive, a new and cheaper method is needed. What we saw was much cheaper but did not last for more than an hour out in the sun. Much research is still needed until these panels can be a reality.

Our guest speaker was from The Getty Center and talked about conservation on the paintings. New instruments are constantly being created to measure various things from the paintings without damaging them. Using radiation the layers of the painting can even be looked at. In some paintings a whole different picture could be found under the visible one which would never be seen without this technology.

Sometimes painting need to be restored because they were not kept in ideal conditions. It is hard to decide to restore a painting because of the potential for damage, but as the technology moves forward the choice becomes easier and easier. Priceless works at supposed to be kept in oxygen free containers with a small amount of light shining on them. I have been to the Hermitage is Russia where the art was kept in open air containers, light from outside shining in through open windows.

http://otherpower.com/otherpower_solar_new.html

http://www.getty.edu/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sol-gel

http://www.solgel.com/

http://www.lifeonthewall.com/

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Daily Blog #5

By stevenlim | Published: July 13, 2009

Today was the most walking I have ever done. But besides that point, let us continue on our journey. Today, we were able to visit the LAPD, what it stands for I have no idea.

dscn0134

This place has got to be the coolest thing ever. First, we checked out the smaller of the two machines. By looking at this one, it was UNINSPIRING. Literally, my hopes were all up because plasma was a BIG thing. I’ve read about it in a semi sci-fi novel named Alex Rider. Of course it was unrealistic in the fact that he was able to put on a suit and swim in plasma, but I still had hopes.

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Personally, I thought plasma would be a liquid. Yet that would be ironic becasue plasma cannot be a liquid. Plasma is an entirely different class from liquids and I suppose you can say that it is a different state of matter.

states

Analyzing plasma, It was the weirdest thing. The best thing I can explain it with is comparing it to a laser. Becasue plasma is too hot, the plasma can only be left on flashing. They will melt the machine itself if they keep the pasma on. By only seeing this example of plasma, I have extreme trouble understanding what plasma truly is. Plasma has the ability to melt metal and has the ability to travel so fast that it can look misleading. Yet that is all the information I know about plasma. To put it in basic terms, all i know about plasma is that its quick, glows, and melts metal. Looking up from wikipedia plasma is, “a partially ionized gas, in which a certain proportion of electrons are free rather than being bound to an atom or molecule”. Basically, plasma is something that I have never seen before.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_(physics)

http://plasma.physics.ucla.edu/

http://www.chem4kids.com/files/matter_plasma.html

http://www.plasmas.org/what-are-plasmas.htm

http://plasmascience.net/tpu/ubiquitous.html

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Blog 5: 7/13/09

By sophiapatrico | Published: July 13, 2009

"Icons of the Desert" exhibit

The doors opened slowly, and we entered the “Icons of the Desert” exhibit. On the walls around us hung Australian Aboriginal paintings from a tiny settlement called Papunya. I felt as if I had just gone back in time to the 1970s when the Sydney school teacher Geoffrey Bardon gave the Aboriginal men paint and cardboard to transfer their designs and dreamings to a more permanent surface than their skin or the ground.

Our tour guide at the museum began by discussing a couple of the paintings with us. When I first looked at them, I saw what I thought of as typical Aboriginal paintings that contained earth-tone colors and ceremonial figures. However, as she pointed out different symbols in one of the pictures and the meaning behind them, we started to uncover information about the Australian Aboriginal culture. The painting was no longer just a painting that I looked at and moved on to another one; it became a story that grabbed my attention. In fact, many of the paintings were maps of the land. For example, the circles represented waterholes, and U shapes represented men. I was fascinated that the Papunya artists could make a map look like such a beautiful painting. Today our maps look nothing like a work of art. I wish I could have seen the Aboriginals paint the actual pictures.

Papunya Artist-1971

When the Papunyas first started transferring their designs to the cardboard, their paintings depicted realistic events and contained sacred imagery that were never meant to be seen by women or children. When the men realized they were revealing too much, they began using dots and lines to make the paintings more abstract and to form a veil of secrecy over the underlying messages in the painting. Some of the pictures were now considered appropriate for women and children to see. The tour guide told us we were not allowed to take pictures of the images, for they were sacred. I asked myself, “Then why are we allowed to see them?” Our tour guide said it is because we are Americans and would not get it. I wish other cultures did not look down on Americans so much.

Geoffrey Bardon and an Australian Aboriginal man

An Australian Aboriginal man and Geoffrey Bardon

In history class, we have learned about how the Native Americans were treated horribly and placed in reservations. Children were taken away from parents and forced to assimilate to the American culture in schools. This same type of treatment happened with the Aboriginal people of Australia, and my knowledge of Native Americans helped me to better understand the lives of the people that painted the pictures we were seeing. Before going to the Fowler Museum to see this exhibit, I had no idea what to expect. I did not know what we were going to be seeing or whether I would be interested. I left the museum today with an appreciation for early Aboriginal paintings and a desire to learn more about the Papunya culture.

http://www.fowler.ucla.edu/incEngine/?theme=fowler_main&content=information_manager&information_manager_id=82

http://www.iconsofthedesert.com/

http://www.aboriginal-art.com/desert_pages/papunya_intro.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papunya,_Northern_Territory

http://www.aboriginalartonline.com/index.php

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blog day5 7.13.09

By suelee | Published: July 13, 2009

Today’s lecture was about how shapes are everywhere. We talked about how shapes of atoms, crystals and opals deeply affect their behaviors and appearances. And then we related shapes to art and architecture, the way artists express themselves through their pieces. There was a slide where they compared the universe to an atom; the sun is the nucleus and the orbiting planets are the orbiting electrons.

After lectures, we went around Westwood visiting museums and labs. We first visited a museum where we saw art pieces by people in Africa. The exhibit was called the Icons of the Desert in the Fowler Museum of Cultural History. These paintings were of their dreams and maps and daily life. Most of these pictures were considered sacred; it was forbidden for people other tan the elders who painted them to know anything about it. They didn’t care if we saw it since we were students in the United States, and we had no other knowledge of them to be able to hurt them in any way.

Afterwards, we visited a lab, where they made plasma. Plasma is when electrons are freed from their bonds around a nucleus. The plasma is hot enough to melt metal so to contain it, the vacuum like vault was of a specially made material that wont melt. The extremely low pressure also helped the material stay solid and to electron to move around. Looking through a little window in the vault, we were able to see the plasma shoot from a certain point, all around the vault in a straight red line of light, and then back.

At the end of the day, we visited the UCLA library where we learned about a collection of old books. And what makes them so valuable, even if they aren’t as old as they look.

Fowler Museum

Icons of the Desert

plasma

http://www.fowler.ucla.edu/incEngine/

http://www.fowler.ucla.edu/incEngine/?theme=fowler_main&content=information_manager&information_manager_id=82

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_(physics)

http://www.iop.org/EJ/abstract/0368-3281/8/5/308

http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1977NucFu..17..811H

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blog day4 7.10.09

By suelee | Published: July 13, 2009

I learned a couple of interesting facts from the lecture. These included the face that humans were mainly made up of just protons and electrons. If all the water and space was extracted from our bodies, we would be 1/100 of a single strand of hair. This shows us how much of our body is made up of water and space. The lecture also included what contributes to mood swings. The two factors they talked about were environmental effects, such as weather, and noise pollution. I knew that weather affected one’s mood, since I have become unnecessarily angry at people when the weather was too hot. However, the noise factor was new to me. I guess I can understand it, since people can get irritated if there is a lot of noise but they are used to quiet, or even the other way around.

Other than the one lecture, we presented our midterm projects. My group was one of the groups that approached more of a serious matter, though I did enjoy all the ideas that everyone had, especially the one where we could have lenses that would highlight the world any way we want. There was another one where the people did a rap at the beginning, though I missed most of that because I was in the restroom.

My group’s topic is the treatment to HIV. Our idea is to have two injections: the first one would put in nanobots that would detect the HIV virus and the infected helper t cells and attach a synthetic substrate to them, and then the second injection would be synthetic enzymes that were made to fit the substrate from the first injection. Once together, the enzyme would release cytokines that would start the killer t cells, which is the muscle of the immune system. For the final project, we will add a powerpoint, with an animation of nanobot 1 and how it will attach the substrate.

http://www.avert.org/hiv-virus.htm

http://www.epigee.org/health/hiv_symptoms.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV

http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/resources/factsheets/transmission.htm

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07-12-09, “Disneyland- the perfect blend of art, science, and fun”

By juliamiller | Published: July 13, 2009

A classic image of Cinderella's Castle in Disneyland

Often described as the happiest place on earth, the beloved theme park known as Disneyland also serves as the perfect example of the blending of art and science to create something fun, innovative, and magical.

Filled with crazy colors, cartoonish characters, and an all-around carefree feel, the artistic aspect of Disneyland is fairly obvious. However, Disneyland truly is equal parts science and art. Best known for its many themed rides, Disneyland is essentially a cornucopia of applied physical sciences. Behind every single ride lies an extensive set of blueprints, calculations, and careful mathematical and scientific calculations. Of course, the extensive scientific nature of Disneyland is often left to the engineers who work behind closed doors for the park.

California Screamin', one of Disneyland's more technically complex rides

However, after the rides have been designed and constructed, Disney “releases” its team of artists to give the park the classic Disney-feel. Each ride, based upo=on its theme, undergoes an extensive decoration effort to make it feel both authentic to whatever it may be depicting and fun. Even in the design process itself, science is applied to create realistic effects. For example, in the popular feature known as Turtle Talk, a skype-like system programmed to respond to facial

The Turtle Talk feature which allows for real-time, reaction-based animation

movements is used to animate a sea turtle so that this “turtle” may respond to an audience in real-time.

Ultimately, the blending of art and science in Disneyland allows for the perfect and adventurous atmosphere that makes the park such a renound and memorable place.

Links:

1) Robotics at Disneyland- http://thelaunchpad.xprize.org/2009/04/robot-of-week-disneyland.html

2) Engineering and physics behind roller coasters-

http://www.clemson.edu/ese/research/MIE/1.doc

3) Set and amusement park designs; http://www.creativeresourcesweb.com/clients.asp

4) The history behind audio-anamatronics (at Disneyland)- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio-Animatronics

5) Disney Imagineering (technical design team)- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney_Imagineering

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Blog #5

By leahschrumpf | Published: July 13, 2009

The day started with a lecture about shape and its importance in science and art. For example, shape in science is important in that it determines the properties of atoms and in opals the color, orientation, and diffraction. In art, shape shows the artists point of view and creativeness. Shape can even be seen in the art forms of music and dance, which I had never really thought about having shape until today. These made me wonder what other aspects of life are greatly affected by shape. I found it very interesting that the shape of an atom is like the shape of the solar system. The electrons and electron clouds focus and move around the nucleus just as the planets orbit the sun. But is this a coincidence or a parallel about the world around us and the structure of life? I thought about this question after the lecture and have come to believe that it’s not a coincidence but somehow is a clue into the interworking parts of the universe.

The plasma lab I saw today was amazing. I was astounded that the people in the lab build the machines used to make and study the plasma. The LArge Plasma Device (LAPD) was incredible. The maximum plasma column length is 18 meters. Looking in the window to see the plasma was an eye opener, it was a bright orange light. An almost purple light would flash from the windows at all times. I found it amazing how much power it takes to run the machine and how much heat is needed to make the plasma. With this machine they can heat plasma at a higher temperature than the sun.

: Ed next to the LAPD

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Plasma_Device

http://plasma.physics.ucla.edu/pages/equip.html

http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761567432_2/atom.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atom

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opal

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blog day3 7.9.09

By suelee | Published: July 13, 2009

Today, I enjoyed the lab visits more than the lectures. When thinking about the day without my notes to remind me, the only things that come to my mind are the instruments we saw in labs. There was when we looked through an SEM microscope.. Another was in the Yang lab where we saw how scientists are thinking about using light produced by algae to feed solar cells for energy. And then there was the sol gel that the Dunn lab made, though I wasn’t really sure what exactly that was for.

With the SEM microscope, we looked at someone’s hair and another’s peeling skin. We were able to focus on the sample in the microscope to around 10000 times. I was surprised when they said at the end that this microscope wasn’t the best one they had; they had another one on the floor above that could focus to an even greater extent.

Then there was the lab with the light producing algae. I really liked how a plant that cannot move by itself is able to produce light naturally while animals and humans who have total control over their bodies cannot. I also liked how they used the light; in an indirect way to keep away predators, the light the algae produces attract big fish to prey on the smaller fish that prey on the algae; this is a roundabout method but it does do what it is supposed to do. Using this unending supply natural light to feed the solar cells to produce our energy is an ingenious idea. With water and food for the huge amount of algae around the world, the solar cells around the world will be able to use all this light during the night, the day shift being the sun’s responsibility.

hair under SEM microscope