By Greg Brockman - Mathematics
I was no longer at a junction where I could ask my parents for the answers, nor indeed any being living or dead...
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Being that I am a twin, I sought after genetic studies to quench my rooted fascination with the potential biological linkage between family members, and furthermore, siblings. People would constantly question an existence of some bizarre twin connection; if your brother has to sneeze, will you have to as well? No-but could that be possible? If he develops a rare disorder, will I become susceptible as the next victim? As I explored the complexity of human psychology in association with genetic variability, I was amazed at the myriad of possibilities, both inheritable and environmentally stimulating, that may cause the onset of Schizophrenia. Read more...
By Erin Wagner - Social Science
As soon as then-Harvard president Lawrence H. Summers made this statement on January 14th, 2005 as part of a speech during the NBER Conference on Diversifying the Science and Engineering Workforce, a storm of controversy arose over his "sexist" pronouncement. But was he really wrong? Read more...
By Marisa Rosen - Social Science Many times I wondered why I had not been taught grammar earlier, like my friends who attended private schools. Why was it that my brother and my friends in the city spent so much time on direct grammar instruction, while my school and so many other public institutions considered it a non-priority? For that matter, why did our superintendent insist on calling primary schools, "elementary schools" rather than "grammar schools"? There was a distinct philosophical reason at work. Read more...
By Lauren Neuendorf - Biology River Otter When I announced to my family that I wanted to become a veterinarian, my grandfather felt that it would be a great idea to take me up to Cornell University where he is an undergraduate alumni, and show me Cornell's College of Veterinary Medicine. During the summer of second grade, my grandfather and I went and visited. This experience really helped solidify my dream of becoming a veterinarian. Read more...
By Sarah Kirsch - Autism I found David, in all his glory, on his bed, leaning on both elbows and knees, staring at the calendar on the wall next to his pillow. The calendar holds mystical powers for David. It lists all the activities he’s scheduled to do for the next day. David is my 15 year old brother. David has autism. While David stared at the calendar, I stared at him. That moment taught me what unconditional love means. Read more...
By Samuel Haber- Social Science
For the Intel Science Talent Search, I wrote a paper entitled "Social Security Reform: A Model Combining Market and Non-market Solutions in Order to Achieve Political Consensus," in the social sciences category. As the title states, I developed a mathematical model as well as incorporated concepts from both economics and political science.
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By Bharath Ramsundar - Quantum Computers
Today's quantum computers are in a stage of infancy; it was considered a tremendous achievement when an experimental quantum computer multiplied three times five a few years ago. Yet, improvements are being made at a steady clip, and we might see a functioning quantum computer within a decade or two.
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By Beatrice Parker - GravityPhysics One of the most exciting days of work occurred when I discovered that I could apply programming skills I acquired in my linear algebra class to my project. I needed a program that could graph in three dimensions, was easily manipulated, and used a color gradient to show height differences. MatLab, a matrix-based programming environment, fit that description perfectly.
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By Lauren Tonetti - Social Science Self-Esteem Outside the realm of sports, it was shown that participation in clubs increased social participation and therefore social self-esteem (Lindsay 1984). In a more recent study, Mahoney & Cairns (1997) found that participation in clubs increased school engagement, meaning that students were more comfortable at school and more likely to participate in school. Essentially such students felt better about themselves at school.
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By Ashley Bahnken - Social Science I was sitting in the waiting room of a doctor's office in Manhattan one day when I stumbled upon an article concerning "only" children. As an "only" child myself, I was intrigued by how the absence of siblings could shape my personality. Read more...
By Jeffrey Wang - Information Theory The next hurdle was to figure out what information theory was really about. Since it is traditionally taught as an undergraduate or graduate level course, I dedicated the several weeks I had before RSI started to learning everything I could about information theory. This was already far too little time to digest an entire field, but you would be surprised at how much you can cover when you are focused on a single subject. Read more...
By Sinchan Banerjee - Medical Software All throughout my life, I have felt very strongly for those who suffer from Cerebral Palsy (A neural disorder that is marked by physical [such as spastic tendencies] and cognitive difficulties). That is why I volunteered at the Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy in Kolkata, India during the summer of 2005. During my interactions and studies with these children, I saw that they really enjoy interacting with computers but did not have the proper means to do it, and I felt that Sharpgent software could aid them in their studies and careers tremendously.
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By Michael Klein - Neurocognition While reading this article, I noticed a number of faults in the setup of the experiment, which indicated the possibility that hypnopaedia was not impossible. The paper of the research, done by Emmons and Simon, never specified the nouns used in the study, so their results couldn't be duplicated. The words in the study were learned by listening, but volunteers were tested in a written format. Read more...
By Rachel Sitts - BiologyThough I had a huge fear of bees, as many other people do, I was fascinated by the complex cognitive tasks these insects could perform despite their miniscule brains. I read numerous articles about how bumblebees were able to communicate with each other using various signals, such as by secreting pheromones to indicate when they have been successful when searching for food. It became clear to me that I wanted to study how bumblebees interact with each other and how their behavior affects their success during foraging. Read more...
