The Lumberjack



Students Serving The Cal Poly Humboldt Campus and Community Since 1929

Tag: molecule

  • This Week In STEM Sept. 14

    This Week In STEM Sept. 14

     

    Researchers at the International Monetary Fund and Georgetown University announced that more than 90 percent of all passenger vehicles in developed nations could be electric by 2040. Only two million out of more than one billion registered vehicles are electric today, with one million of those being in China. If this prediction proves true, it could reduce oil use by 21 million barrels a day and cut carbon dioxide emissions by 3.2 billion tons a year. That’s equivalent to 60 percent of total U.S. emissions today.

    Source: National Geographic

    Embed from Getty Images As many as one in three parasite species may face extinction in the next century. Researchers from University of California, Berkeley found that global warming will raise the planet’s temperature causing many species to lose territory in which they can survive. Parasites make up the majority of biomass in many ecosystems, and can outweigh predators sharing the environment by 20 to 1. The extinction of parasites may affect entire food webs, which would drastically affect human health in turn. Colin J. Carlson, the lead author of the study, said that parasites control the amount of diseases in wildlife, which indirectly helps humans as well. The estimated extinction of as many as one third of all parasite species would have dire effects.

    Source: New York Times

    Embed from Getty Images An oil tanker sank off the shore of Athens, Greece on Sunday, coating the entire bay in crude oil. Greek officials are calling it an environmental disaster as it’s turning the bay black and affecting the local wildlife. The spill is polluting the waters in a 1.5 km stretch around the island Salamis and will likely take four months to clean. Residents are outraged, coastal businesses have closed and fishermen have been advised to avoid the area. The captain and chief engineer of the oil tanker have been charged with negligence and released on bail. It’s still not clear exactly why the tanker sank.

    Source: BBC

    Beryllium hydride is now the largest molecule a quantum computer has simulated, generating new hope for future drug discoveries. According to Ryan Babbush, the researcher who led the hydrogen molecule simulation for Google, the accomplishment “represents solid progress towards an incredibly important goal.” For practical purposes, however, beryllium hydride is still a tiny molecule, so there is still much research to be done. Many scientists believe that revealing new drugs and materials will be the first significant application of future quantum computers, which are being developed at universities and companies around the world.

    Source: Science Magazine

     

     

  • Voices of student science

    Voices of student science

    By | Kelly Bessem

    Voices of student science aims to highlight individual Humboldt State students majoring within the widespread realm of the sciences.

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    Isabella Knori, HSU Geography major with a minor in Geospatial Analysis. Photo by Kelly Bessem

    Isabella Knori is a senior geography major with a minor in geospatial analysis. Knori is originally from San Diego, Calif.

    “Geography allows you to learn about all different things that apply to a wide variety of disciplines,” Knori said. “When I came to HSU I was really indecisive and wanted to major in everything.”

    For her geography capstone project, Knori conducted a geospatial landscape analysis based on the historic habitats of California condors. This conservation mapping project found possible areas for California condor reintroduction in Northern California.

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    Kolbe Cathcart, HSU Biology major with an Ecology and Biodiversity focus, standing next to his redwood sapling “Toobee”. Photo by Kelly Bessem

    Kolbe Cathcart is a senior biology major with a focus in ecology and biodiversity. Cathcart grew up in Niles, Calif. 

    Cathcart chose his major because of a book he read growing up called “Dune” by Frank Herbert.

    “It’s about a lot of things but what interested me the most was the ecology aspect and the interaction between ecology and humans,” Cathcart said of the book. “I’m interested in looking at this interaction over thousands of years.”

    Cathcart is bringing a new perspective to the Humboldt State student-run aquaponics lab this semester by focusing on plants rather than fish.

    “Aquaponics is raising fish and using the fish waste to grow plants in that water,” Cathcart said. “It filters the water and then reduces waste production.” Cathcart is currently looking at the economic viability of aquaponics in Northern California.

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    Amber Hendershot, HSU Cellular and Molecular Biology major. Photo by Kelly Bessem

    Amber Hendershot is a sophomore in the cellular and molecular biology program. Hendershot is originally from Bangor, Penn.

    Hendershot is training to become an emergency medical technician and plans to apply to medical school.

    “I’m fascinated by the use of medicine for healing,” Hendershot said. “I would like to look into alternative medicine and see how it could become more validated through the scientific process.” Hendershot’s ultimate goal is to become a psychiatric or osteopathic doctor.