Category: research

Summary
Flow rates and pulling forces were measured in several solutions to determine the correlation between surface tension and viscosity. Because these fluid properties arise from intermolecular bonding, a positive correlation was expected. To study the relationship between viscosity and surface tension, solutions with different concentrations of agar and flour were used. Differences in viscosity were determined by differences in flow rate. The flow rates were determined from the time that the solutions took to flow through a tube. The surface tension (Newtons/meter) was determined by the pulling force exerted on a needle placed on the surface of the solution, which was weighed using grains of rice put on a scale. Surprisingly, we found that the solutions with a higher viscosity than water had either less or the same surface tension as water, and we suspect this is due to the unchanged intermolecular bonding of water molecules (hydrogen bonding) causing surface tension as viscosity increased. A possible explanation is that the viscosity of a fluid is influenced more by the friction caused by the interactions between large molecules with a lot of polar atoms, causing attraction between them.

Ruihan Wei, Ji-Hong Chen, Jan D. Huizinga

Click here for PDF file: September2014(1)

Summary
As the global climate continues to change it may become critical to explore possibilities for climate intervention and remediation to counteract warming by greenhouse gases. One such ‘geoengineering solution’ proposes to inject reflective aerosol particles into the atmosphere to decrease insolation, the amount of radiation coming from the sun received by the Earth. Given constraints due to a lack of technology and restricted physical experimentation, we study the unintended potential consequences of this experimental solution by examining the temperature and precipitation response to historical scenarios, projected radiative forcing, and idealized geoengineering scenarios to counteract radiative forcing due to human influences, using the Community Climate System Model version 4, CCSM4. The model projects increased temperature globally, increased precipitation in the Tropical Pacific, and decreased precipitation in some semi-arid regions if climate change continues without mitigation. Although these changes are not as severe with geoengineering, global temperature and precipitation are still redistributed globally. This research helps to understand the possible effects of geoengineering on the radiative balance affecting the Earth’s temperature and hydrologic cycle.

Aspen Anderson and Toby Ault

Click here for PDF file: August2014(1)

Summary
Since the outbreak of honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) disappearance in the phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder (CCD) in 2006, investigations dedicated to finding the causes of CCD have suggested possible factors; however, a singular cause has not yet been identified. This project aims at identifying how external factors in the environment, such as water vapor and smoke, can affect the social behavior and physical condition of honey bees. It was hypothesized that water vapor could block insect pheromone communication and that smoke could accumulate on the antennae of insects, interrupting pheromone communication. House crickets (Acheta domesticus) were used to test water vapor’s effect on pheromone communication because they communicate with pheromones like honey bees. Crickets were exposed to vinegar, mimicking the alarm pheromone, to confirm a social response. Next, we tested water vapor’s ability to block pheromone communication. To test the effect of smoke’s presence in the environment, red harvester ants (Pogonomyrmex barbatus) were used, due to their anatomical similarity to bees. The red harvester ant experiments measured the degree to which smoke particles accumulated on their body parts. The results showed that smoke particles did accumulate during exposure to smoke. This study provides evidence that external factors in the environment of insects may act as pheromone blocking agents and thus obstruct the insects’ ability to communicate through pheromone messages. This conclusion may provide an explanation for the observations in CCD such as the honey bee disappearance and diminishing health.

Orvill Delatorre and Ann Lambert

Summary
Wastewater accumulation is a daunting issue. This global concern stimulates scientists to search for more effective ways of treating wastewater and preserving natural resources. In this study, we have augmented current treatment efficiencies and general effectiveness by creating two new methods. Using hollow fiber membrane (HFM) based liquid-liquid extraction technology in water treatment, we have demonstrated that this technique is more efficient than the current available methods at extracting organic components into the organic phase inside the HFM. Meanwhile, we have used polymeric resins to absorb both neutral and charged organic components in wastewater. Both newly developed methods have the potential to be industrialized for combating the human-caused wastewater contamination issue with increased vigor and efficiency.

Gilbert W. Bao, Albert M. Bao, Xiaojing Liu and Youxin Li

Click here for PDF file: February2014