Caltech

Illustrator? SURF Part 2

You have to make sure the bands are perpendicular first! It’s time for my second blog post about my Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) this summer. I’ve moved on from the Photoshop phase of my SURF and am now in a new phase: Adobe Illustrator.

The general process of everything here is fairly simple. After flattening down the photoshop file from the last post, I ended up with a very nice picture of a coral. A very large one. But where does one go with that? They trace the annual bands!

So, a bit like trees, coral microatolls have annual banding. These appear as dark bands (although the x-ray is inverted so they are really light bands) that stretch throughout the coral. They all follow fairly similar patterns and they are perpendicular to the growth lines.

And I guess the greater question, why exactly am I drawing yellow lines to trace bands? Well the main reason is to count the bands and correlate the diedowns (a diedown occurs when the relative sea level drops below the upper level of the coral) to determine what the relative sea level was at that time. This can then be compared to models of glacial isostatic adjustment (fun fact! We’ve been having lab group GIA discussions to get an intuitive understanding for the process) and we can account for a difference that could be the result of an active, unknown fault.

What’s next? I’m honestly not totally sure. There’s a very good chance it’ll take me the rest of my official summer to finish up just one or two corals. The illustrator is a very slow process and I’m moving at a pace of only one coral per 4 or 5 days. It’s actually a bit of a struggle – a lot of the x-rays have unclear areas in several parts of the coral where it becomes very hard to trace the banding. And next week I’m at the Asia Oceania Geosciences Society conference, so I won’t be doing very much coral work then. I’m sure I’ll be able to figure it out soon and get a wonderful story out of my corals. I have some very cool ones which will hopefully have some juicy info. Who knows what the future will hold, but it’ll be cool regardless.

Back to the band? Or band to the back?

--Chandrew

Trip to Enoshima

Between Kamakura and Fujisawa of Kanagawa prefecture is a tiny Island called Enoshima. It is part of a long stretch of the coast known as a beautiful summer vacation spot, especially for the beaches and the view of Mt Fuji on a clear day. That stretch of coast especially attractive in the hot summer for the cooler ocean temperatures, even though it’s bloody humid - because honestly, so is the rest of Japan. As you come from Kamakura, either by foot or using the train, there are a lot of old temples that you can tour. Kamakura is known for the Daibutsu (literally big budda) and the numerous temple gardens. As it's summer right now, the flowers are in full bloom, and are a must-see!

Enoshima is known for the great views of the ocean that you can get from the top of the “candle” on the island, as well as the complex of caves that is said to have been the places where multiple monks reached enlightenment. Another thing it’s known for are the tiny, almost-translucent fish called shirasu. It’s somewhat related to anchovies, and is traditionally eaten raw like sushi. However the restaurant I went to had options to have it boiled or fried like tempura as well. Although I did try it (and liked it!) the taste and texture is not for everyone. I can always say that I’ve tried it now though!

Syn Cells

    So I have already posted about settling into Boston and some of my weekend adventures, but I realized I should probably talk about the main reason I am actually here in Boston... research! I am working in the Strano Research Group at MIT alongside a graduate student who is also a Caltech alum. The Strano group is in the chemical engineering department, but there are several subgroups within the group focusing on projects that involve everything from biomedical to nanotubes. The subgroup that I work with is developing a new kind of micro-robot called synthetic cells, or "syn cells" for short. We are also working with some collaborators from Georgia Tech and Northwestern. At first, I was a bit confused about how collaboration works across thousands of miles, until we started having weekly webex meetings and presenting weekly updates. The wonders of technology.

    The name syn cell came from the fact that the devices are approximately the same size as white blood cells but are entirely man-made. Unlike traditional micro-robots, which have silicon-based electronic components, syn cells are made by sandwiching colloidal particles in between two layers of graphene, a 2-D form of carbon which is super-conductive. This simple yet powerful combination could evolve into autonomous, free-floating sensors for applications in oil or gas pipelines, chemical reactors, atmospheric studies, or even potentially the human body. The technology is still quite new and very underdeveloped, which is very exciting for me because there are so many possible paths to explore, from the fabrication process to engineering an intercellular communication system or a locomotion mechanism to simply observing interactions and behaviors between syn cells in different conditions.

    My first week, I was primarily just learning about the project and the current objectives of the subgroup and learning each step in the fabrication process. Basically we print the polymer interior onto graphene and then place another layer of graphene on top. Then we lift off the syn cells in this new process called auto-perforation, which utilizes the brittleness of graphene to induce directed fracturing around each of the printed polymer dots. Below are microscope pictures of the polystyrene printed onto graphene (top) and a picture of a lifted off syn cell (bottom). We are also working on making syn cells with a platinum patch on top, which may be useful in a locomotion mechanism. Recently, I have been working on optimizing the fabrication process, in particular trying to improve the platinum electroplating process, alignment, and printing the polymer interior.

    I have also conducted several experiments with completed cells by putting them in a hydrogen peroxide bath, playing around with parameters such as the concentration and the number of syn cells, and recording videos. We have observed a sort of "breathing behavior" or expansion/contraction motion that we hope to better quantify. The ultimate goal is to characterize the behavior between syn cells under different conditions in an attempt to engineer a locomotion mechanism. In order to quantify what is going on in the videos, I helped build a particle tracking algorithm that identifies points of high intensity from images and records the position. From this we can find the average distance from center of mass and the frequency of oscillation for the breathing pattern. Given that I am a chemical engineering major and NOT a comp sci major, this is definitely the most difficult and frustrating part of the project, but I definitely see the value in this work and think data analysis is a skill I should be trying to develop.

    I am now just starting my sixth week of work, so I am just past half way. So far the project has been very involved. I usually work from 9 am until 5:30 or 6 pm and take about a 15 minute break for lunch. Plus I work on data analysis and have to write reports at home after work and on the weekends. Although this summer is a bit more work than I anticipated and slightly more stressful, the work I am doing is very exciting and interesting and I would not trade this experience for anything! Before this summer, I was pretty unsure whether or not I wanted to go to grad school because I didn't know if I really liked research. Now I am almost certain that grad school is the right path for me. It is amazing how one experience, no matter how big or small, can really bring clarity and confidence.

 

-Lexy

A walk through history

Hello all,

    My first weekend here in Cambridge, I walked across the river to check out the north end of Boston. The north end is home to little Italy, the wharf area, and a large section of the Freedom Trail. Although I did not walk the whole length of the Freedom Trail, I did stop by the Paul Revere house, the Old State House, Faneuil hall, the current Massachusetts state house, and Mike's pastries. It was a bit of a jaunt from my apartment, but I do appreciate how walkable Boston is.

    I first walked past the statue of Paul Revere monument (shown left) before stopping at the Paul Revere house. It was the actual house that he lived in for part of his life, although the house did have other residents. The house was absolutely tiny with a kitchen and a dining area downstairs, two bedrooms upstairs, a small attic. One neat fact I learned was that throughout his adulthood, Paul Revere had 16 total children; however they did not all live in the house at the same time. Still, talk about cramped quarters! I also found out that Paul Revere never shouted "The British are coming." When you think about though, it makes sense. They were all British at that point!

    I also really enjoyed seeing the Old State House, outside of which were docents dressed up as "Redcoats" who would march around the building and answer questions about history. This was right down the street from Faneuil hall and Quincy marketplace. Quincy marketplace is a crazy mess of food stands and more people crammed together in a small space than I've ever seen before in my life. It was a mad house! I did enjoy seeing it, but I don't think I would ever want to go there to actually get food, though the smells of the different cuisines were quite enticing. I did appreciate all of the quill-like fountain pens and the constitution posters in the giftshop.

I then walked back to see the Massachusetts state house. Unfortunately, it was not open over the weekend, but the building has a giant, gold dome, which was pretty neat to see (shown below). From there I headed over to little Italy to grab some food. This is when I came upon Mike's pastries, which had been recommended to me by a friend. Mike's pastries has several different sweet treats, but they are most famous for their cannolies.  I had never had one before, but it certainly surpassed my expectations. Being a coffee lover, I had to try the espresso flavored cannoli, of course. At this point, it started to rain (typical Boston), so my weekend excursion ended there. Boston has such a strange conglomeration of different things all in one small place and I re-emphasize how interesting it is just to walk around aimlessly and explore the different wonders that Boston has to offer.

-Lexy

Cann-ed Jokes

Ok. The title is again an anecdote. I went to Fort Canning Park.

I have a bit of confession; I went to Fort Canning park to. Well. Play Pokémon Go. I mean, I went twice actually. The first time was to visit and explore. The second was to take pictures and catch Pokémon. Mostly for my dad, funny enough. He needed the extra support this weekend.

So, what is a “Fort Canning Park”? It’s a former place of a palace. A current historical garden. The site of the Raffles House, and archaeological sites.  During this specific time of the year they were celebrating the Singapore bicentennial (see post on the National Museum).

They also have museum set up inside the hill – it was closed when I stopped by, but it seemed like a super nice place. They also had a food court set up. I got some killer kaya toast. That’s my new favorite, kaya (coconut jam), butter, and toasted white bread. It doesn’t get better.

All in all, great park. 10/10 would recommend. But now the moment you’ve all been waiting for: the brilliant episode of WHAT DID ANDREW HAVE FOR DINNER????

THIS WEEK! LOBSTER ROLLS.

Wait. Lobster rolls?

That’s right. I found a LOBSTER ROLL in Singapore. Let me tell you. I’ve had a craving for lobster rolls for WEEKS. I don’t even know how it started. Honestly. I hadn’t had a lobster roll in a year since I ate my very first one with Eric in Boston. And suddenly, I got to Singapore and needed to find a lobster roll. So I did a Google search and found Chunky Lobsters. And it just so happened that it was right next to Fort Canning park.

So, I got their Connecticut style lobster roll. 90g of buttery lobster on a buttery roll on buttery bread. It was buttery. And delicious. And exactly what I needed in my life but didn’t know that I needed in my life. I also got lobster bisque and crisps with it. And a Singapore energy drink. All those long hours of park walking really had me working up a sweat.

But the best part – all of this = 20 SGD. That’s $15 USD. Or about the price of an entrée and a drink at the Hameetman Center at Caltech. Singapore food is probably the best in the world. And I love it. I wish I could just put this food in Los Angeles. And then my life would be complete.

 

Man, I Really Hate Work!

Hey hey! This post is a bit delayed because I’ve been busy catching up on life (and sleep. Mostly sleep.) after possibly the best day of my entire summer! FIELDWORK DAY.

So, by some small miracle, I just happened to end up in Singapore over the period where our group replaces tidal sensors on the island of Nikoi. This is a small resort island in the northeast(?) part of Indonesia. We got there by a ferry to Bintan, where we then caught a car to the other side of the island and took a small and very choppy boat ride over to Nikoi. The photos don’t quite do it justice, but the island was absolutely gorgeous.

Replacing the tidal gauges was a fairly crazy process. The tide was very high throughout the day and the big surprise: I was scuba diving!!

Backstory time: I got my scuba certification when I was 11 years old, almost as young as you can be. I almost got hypothermia during my certification dives which were in a reservoir… in Colorado. I hadn’t been on a dive since I was 12. Until, that is, they handed me a tank and a mask and more or less told me to hop in. It was amazing. I hadn’t lost any of the muscle memory for diving and being under the ocean felt great. Once under, it was fairly straightforward to measure, remove, and photograph the leveloggers, and then to reinstall the new ones with two exceptions. First, Joanne (who was also diving) and I were getting battered by the current. Everything would be fine one second and then boom! We’d suddenly get blown two feet to the left. Second, there was a very pesky hydozoan, a feather fireweed, that had installed itself all around its site. Luckily, I mostly only got stung on my right foot but yikes! That was not a hazard I had ben expecting for the day. Even with that, this was by far the most fun I’ve had doing fieldwork anywhere.

And the wildest thing about the experience wasn’t even all of that – it was lunch! Somehow, we got a full guest lunch – delicious and (somewhat) authentic Indonesian food. Ok. It might not have been the wildest thing about the experience. But it was delicious and a great way to end an outstanding day (after the two-and-a-half-hour journey back, that is).

Best summer ever?

-- Chandrew

A Peek at Yokohama

I've been living in Yokohama while in Japan, a city I've never actually been to despite its proximity to Tokyo (a place I've been a fair number of times). Because it's by the bay, it has beautiful views of the sea. I'm also super lucky, as I am living only a kilometer from the famous island Minato Mirai, which is a premier tourist destination. On my brief walks around, I have really enjoyed being so close to the water. When you hear the rumble of the waves as they rush into the side of the pier, it has a calming effect that I don't believe anyone can deny. That, coupled with the vast views of the harbor, the bridge, and the ships as they float by, makes for a wonderful experience.

In addition, there's a lot around the area, from numerous shopping malls along the water, to great big green spaces (like the International Cruise Ship Terminal), to the Cup Ramen museum and a small amusement park on Minato Mirai itself. It's really amazing how much there is to do in the area - with Yokohama Chinatown only being a short walk away as well! If you manage to drag yourself away from the views and actually make it to Chinatown, the nikuman (meat buns) there are pretty famous, as are the moon cakes. My favorite snack will always be the sesame balls though!

Rain, rain, go away... jk please stay

Ever heard of the rainy season? I have heard that it’s very common in certain parts of the world. However, I lived in America all my life, so I never had the chance to see or experience it for myself. Until now at least! Japan has this rainy season, which they call Tsuyu (梅雨) as I learned. I really had no idea when it was supposed to happen, but I arrived right in the middle of it! It lasts from after spring, right around May/June until midway through July.

So far, it’s been characterized by cloudy skies every day. There’s been light rain at least once a week as well, sometimes accompanied by some pretty strong winds. I’ve already broken one umbrella, and I hope the count doesn’t go up! Still the temperature is not too bad, around 70 or 80 Fahrenheit and 24-28 Celsius. It’s much preferable to the actual summer temperatures. I’ve been told it can get up to 35 Celsius - which I have been too scared to look up so far, but I’m sure it won’t be pleasant when I actually have to experience it in August!

So cloudy! It was actually sprinkling here...

A Must Sea Experience

    Ahoy! I just went to visit the New England Aquarium and of my Boston adventures thus far, it is definitely a highlight! Would highly recommend to anyone in the region or visiting the region, although it was kind of expensive (around $30 for a day pass). The aquarium sits right on the edge of the bay near Boston's north end and was fairly easy to get to using the redline. Getting back however was NOT fun because while I had been walking around inside the museum, a classic northeastern downpour began outside. I'm talking a heavy, steady downpour that lasted for hours and left puddles the size of small ponds! Just a word of advice to anyone planning touristy day trips: always check the weather and be prepared.

    The New England Aquarium is quite large, housing tropical fish, freshwater fish, several sea turtles, small sharks, stingrays, penguins, and seals! The shark and stingray touch exhibit was pretty neat because you can actually stick your hand in and feel the tops of the stingrays as they swim by. Stingrays have quite a slimy texture and I definitely needed to wash my hands afterwards, but I do not regret the experience one bit! Stingrays are actually very docile, graceful creatures; however seeing the underside of one is kind of disturbing. Their mouths gape open like someone gasping for air, and they have tiny, beady eyes. For those of you familiar with Pokémon, picture Ditto with a surprised expression.

   

An enormous, four-story tank occupies the center of the aquarium with a spiral walkway around it, allowing visitors to watch from all angles as the fish swim around and around. This tank also contains two sea turtles and three sharks (or at least it did on the day I visited). Sea turtles by the way are absolutely massive! On each floor around the tank, various other exhibits were on display, my favorite of which were the seahorses and the jellyfish (shown below). As a mediocre artist, I particularly enjoyed taking pictures of the jellyfish. I plan on using some of the photos for future sketches and possibly a watercolor painting, but I know how difficult it is to create a see-through effect to capture the translucent exterior of the jellyfish. On a side note, I'm not sure why, but the expansion-contraction movement that jellyfish use to propel themselves forward is really interesting to watch.

    My absolute favorite part of the aquarium was the penguin exhibit. Penguins are just so awkward on land, waddling around in circles. When I saw one laying down on a rock, I swore it looked like a duck. Fun fact: penguins have knees! Their femurs are just so short and almost always parallel to the ground, basically in a squatting position, that it is hard to tell. But when in the water, penguins transform into these elegant, graceful torpedoes, darting around here and there. I honestly, could've just watched the penguins for hours, but I eventually moved on so I could see all the exhibits. Overall, a great way to spend my Saturday and worth the price.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-LEXY

Breaking Bread

Yesterday, I went to a Bread Making and Olive Oil Tasting workshop where I learned to make potato rolls and focaccia, and to taste different olive oils. There were around 40 students and two chefs in the workshop. While the student to instructor ration is quite high, we all learned a lot and went home with hearty loaves of bread.

 

When the workshop started we had to make name tags with name puns. A lot of people used "rye", "bun" or "dough" in their names. I was Sun-Knead. Get it? The organizers then proceeded to talk about the traditions and history of bread. It's impressive to think that such a simply amalgamation of flour, water and yeast is a staple in every culture in the world. They also shared a bit of information about the glycemic index of breads. All breads are high in carbohydrates, but not all are created equal. While brioche, Hawaiian rolls and the likes taste delicious, we should opt for breads with less refined grains for prolonged heart health. The breads we made were quick breads that can have multi-grained flour instead of regular enriched flour. They are super easy to make and are a great healthy option for a dinner side.

 

Starting with the potato rolls, we pureed boiled potatoes and mixed them together with eggs, flour, water and yeast. Either Yukon Gold or another less starchy potato variety will do. The crucial thing here is to get the mixture to the right temperature. You want warm water to bloom the yeast, but if the water is too hot, the yeast will die. According to the chef, you want a temperature that when you dip your fingers in, you want to get in. We kneaded the dough using the dough attachment and a standup mixer. Then, we let the dough proof for ~30 minutes before portioning them into smaller dough balls for a second proof and baking. When portioning the dough, it's crucial that there is enough oil on the surface so that it doesn't stick.

 

Focaccia is even easier than potato rolls to make. You only need salt, water, oil and flour. Of course, we had plenty of toppings we could add to the top after the dough was mixed and proofed. The coolest part of making focaccia is seeing all the bubbles that develop in the mixture from proofing. Also, the quality of the focaccia is proportional to the quality of olive oil you use in it. You need olive oil in the dough as well as in the pan, so it doesn't stick. I topped by focaccia with sun-dried tomatoes, oregano and wild mushrooms.

 

Speaking of olive oil, we also did an olive oil tasting while the breads were baking. The best olive oil is extra virgin, meaning that it came from the first press. Oil from the second press is simply called virgin. Oil that is chemically extracted after that is not worth trying, so I won't bother naming it. We sampled oils from Italy, Spain and Portugal. The smoothness and the different notes in the oil were actually pretty distinct. I was worried that we were just drinking cooking oil, but when tasting, you only put a drop on your spoon and swish it in your mouth. It's not greasy or gross at all.

 

The class was super fun and made me feel like a real adult. My friend who took that class with me will recreate the breads with me on a weekend to ensure that we actually learned the skills. I am pretty excited to try and bake my own breads because I truly love carbs.