Final Day of the 1st Semester (well, before finals)

Today, you guessed it, I worked on my mid-term thesis report. That pretty much sums it up. Brevity is a nifty thing isn't it?



- Noah

Mid-term nearing completion

Today I worked on my mid-term report some more. I'll likely be done ahead of Monday. Really what's left to do is just edits, and some touch-ups here and there.

- Noah

Thesis Days(12/8-12/11)

Today I spent most of my time working on my mid-term report, polishing the conclusion, and reading more reports and publications. It'd be nice if there aren't any mistakes in them.

On a college note, I will hear back soon from SMU, TCU, and MIT. Well, I'll actually know from MIT on Thursday at 5:28 PM.

- Noah

Today I worked on my mid-term report, correcting errors, updating, and trying to write a decent conclusion.

- Noah

thesis day- no more college days

today, I read through the papers I have so far. I'm definitely starting to understand it better. I'm also thinking about how I will organize my final paper and presentation. I think I'll talk about the actual synthesizing process and all the chemistry, etc. then talk about the real-world and potential applications. At the actual presentation, maybe I'll have a prototype biomimetic spinner.

- Noah

Dec. 2-4

I finished and submitted my UT application, and so all that's left is to touch up a couple of supplements for Rice.

As for the messed up math, the equation for stored energy should be the area of the stress-strain graph. The energy should be per unit volume. Neat. I found a mistake in a publication(?).

- Noah

College day (Dec.)

Today I worked on refining my Apply Texas essay, and made edits based on suggestions made. I plan to submit the rest of my applications in the following couple of weeks. I should be completely finished before the end of December.

- Noah

College work day

Today I worked on my ApplyTexas essay, and also updated/edited information in the website for my UT application.

(I also looked at audition music for MIT ensemble/jazz band so I'll be ready for auditions next year. Mainly just for any college, not just MIT. The music was for this year, so I'm not counting chicks before they hatch, I just like to be best prepared for any scenario.)

- Noah

There's a mistake in the math...?

Yesterday, I realized that the equation used in the study to find the energy stored in the silk as it is stretched is odd. The units don't work out, so I'll have to find a solution and fix it. (Dr. J confirmed that it had incorrect units.)

- Noah

After the break

To briefly summarize what I did over the break: I worked on my supplements, my Apply TX essay, and read up on my thesis. (I'm still trying to understand the "lock and trigger" mechanism described by SLU.)

Today I'm working on my mid-term report and my Apply TX essay. I'm hoping to submit my UT app by thursday. After that, really the only one left is Rice, which I'm essentially finished with. I just need to make sure the supplementals are solid. 

Oh! Also I found this neat study of spider silk. It describes how qualities were quantified and has a ton of data. I also found equations used in the study that may be helpful.

- Noah

I'm Back

I got back from the campout yesterday. (It was cold and very windy.) I didn't manage to make a post yesterday, and quite honestly, I didn't work on my thesis. I fell asleep.

This post will be my itinerary for the week, so if I forget to log a day, you'll know what I'm up to.

Monday (today): Work on Rice supplemental essays

Tuesday: Read on thesis

Wednesday: Read on thesis

Thursday: I will be eating copious amounts of turkey, potatoes, cranberry sauce, and pies.

Friday: Work on college applications for Dec. 1/Jan. 1 deadlines.

Saturday: Eagle Scout Court of Honor

Sunday: Update/edit mid-term report


- Noah

Camping this weekend

I will be gone camping this weekend so I will not have an entry tomorrow. Today was fully loaded schedule-wise so I wasn’t able to do anything today. Over the break I plan to make good progress on my research.

- Noah

Thesis day # 1093234001

Jk, there hasn't been that many thesis days.

I worked on my mid-term report more today. I took out some things, added more to it, and made sure my formatting was correct.

- Noah

[original title]

I've been looking into other ways of creating my own protein solution. Nothing I've found would be feasible, due to expenses, availability of materials, etc. The only semi-possible way would be to harvest naturally-occurring spider silk, dissolve it into an aqueous solution, use the lyophilization process to purify it, then resuspend the resulting powder in HFIP solvent to create a usable dope. Now, I can't do this at home. I highly, highly doubt SMU would let me use their labs/chemicals. Even if they did, I wouldn't be able to collect spider silk. Collect silk from webs just hanging around would be mean to the spiders, not to mention dirty, and harvesting them directly from the actual spiders seems inhumane to me (even though it has been done multiple times before).  

I did pretty much finish my mid-term thesis report. It's already three pages just in one sitting. I'll still add to it as I progress and turn it in on the deadline (or maybe earlier to get it out of the way). It's just nice to know that I have a good portion of it finished.

- Noah

Thesis (college) day

Today, I worked on supplementals for Rice. I also began my thesis mid-term paper.

I've also decided that I will try to build something*, but will still write a substantial research paper. Unfortunately, most of it will be conjecture and theory so I'll have to make sure I am very thorough in my research.

- Noah

*- I dunno what something though...

This changes things...

I heard back from SLU this morning. I will not be able to have any of the dope for my project. They only make enough material for their own experiments, and shipping it would be difficult as the solution will aggregate at room temperature.

One thing that she did point out is that the silk is polymerized primarily through being pulled through the spinneret organ, not extruded. My thought was that an air pressure pushing the protein solution through the pH gradient would have the same effect, but sounds like not.(?) She did point out that I was on to something though. It would matter what gas was being used as pressure, because I knew that CO₂ would have an effect on the C-Terminal domain, so it would have to be an inert gas.

So, this changes things:

I won't be able to make a working, tested prototype. I can create a similar setup as SLU, or make a new design for manufacturing based on that. (that won't even do anything! Ugh.)

or

I can look into my original thought more, with the new information, and revise the design. (which STILL won't do anything.)

or

I can abandon the idea of building something and simply write a long research paper (boring).

What to do...?

- Noah

Nov. 9-12

I'm still waiting to hear back from SLU about the protein dope. I think I'll wait a few more days, then try sending it again.

I did some research on calculating a new pressure for a nozzle with a changing diameter (essentially a cone), and I think it'll take awhile. I need to learn some more fluid dynamics first. There's much that I haven't considered. There will be a normal force opposite to the pressure, the force AND area change, and probably some other things I've yet to learn. This week, I'll do more reading on FD so that next week during the break I can maybe calculate. On the other hand, it'd be much easier to just experiment with the pressure and find one suitable. The nice thing is that I can use water to test it with.

If I can't get a hold of the dope from SLU, I may have to just present the device as a proposed, untested prototype (I'm planning to start building during winter break: when I'll know more about fluid dynamics and hydraulics). It'd be a neat water gun, but it won't have the same effect.

Sorry about writing late. I'll really try to do a blog every day, I just need to get into the habit.

- Noah

That's so "dope." Ha! I'm friggin' hilarious. (No. I'm not.)

Senior Thesis #23

Today, I added to my annotated bibliography and began calculations for pressure with a "spinneret" that has a changing radius. This will most likely be closest to the design that I will use. I'll check with Dr. J later.

I guess that's what I spent an entirety of 90 min on today.

All in a day's work

- Noah

Senior Thesis day #22

Today I worked on my annotated bibliography for my thesis. I'm going to have difficulty trying to get to 15 sources. My topic is very new, and done by only one group, so finding many sources will be difficult. I've gotten 4 so far. I haven't heard back from Dr. Rising about my last email.

Annotated Bibliography

A Study of Biomimetically Synthesizing Spider Silk from a Chimeric Minispidroin

Project Description:

My project will be study-based. I’m studying laboratory methods used to artificially synthesize spider silk, and it’s potential uses and applications. I plan to produce a paper and at least a prototype of a “Biomimetic Silk Spinner” that will apply what I have learned in my study in attempts to recreate the process or explore other potential methods. As of now, I am reading up on many papers sent to me by Dr. Anna Rising of SLU (a lead researcher in synthetic production of spider silk), and working on a design for a prototype. My next move will be to carefully request a sample of the “dope” in order to test my device (that I have yet to build). I will likely have the capability to build it, but the actual protein solution used by researchers is something I cannot replicate on my own.

Andersson, Marlene, et al. Biomimetic Spinning of Artificial Spider Silk from a Chimeric Minispidroin. Nature America, Inc, 2017, Biomimetic Spinning of Artificial Spider Silk from a Chimeric Minispidroin, nature.com/naturechemicalbiology.

[This source is from a research team at SLU. They described their experimental setup, the materials and equipment used, and described their results based on changes in pH. There are also pictures of the experiment and the produced strands of silk at varying pH’s. From this source, I know that the optimal pH would be ~5.5, and the concentration of the NT2repCT dope should be ~100-500 mg/ml. Additional specifications for equipment models and sizes is also listed. The procedure for this experiment is essentially this: Pump the dope through the pulled glass capillary into the acidic buffer and then wind produced strands onto a reel for collection. The dope can be stored for extended periods at 20℃.]

Andersson, Marlene, et al. Carbonic Anhydrase Generates CO₂ and H⁺ That Drive Spider Silk Formation Via Opposite Effects in the Terminal Domains. vol. 12, PLOS Biology, 2014, pp. 1–14, Carbonic Anhydrase Generates CO₂ and H⁺ That Drive Spider Silk Formation Via Opposite Effects in the Terminal Domains.

[This source is a scientific report by the SLU research team. It describes the research that went into the experiment, discoveries made, and goes more in-depth into the specific chemical and biological processes the production goes through. The paper details how the team attempted to replicate the processes, reactions, and conditions. This report describes the “lock and trigger” mechanism, and the discovery of the role the pH gradient plays in the synthesis of spider silk. The report contains dozens of graphs, graphics, and images of various tests done to determine conditions, of which they needed to replicate.]

Rising, Anna, and Jan Johnson. Toward Spinning Artificial Spider Silk. Nature America, Inc, 2015, pp. 309–315, Toward Spinning Artificial Spider Silk.

[This is a paper written by Dr. Anna Rising and Dr. Jan Johansson detailing the quantitative and qualitative properties of natural spider silk, and how their synthetic silk compares to it. This also describes their initial approach to synthesizing it. The report also has a schematic of a hypothetical “biomimetic [silk] spinning device.” I plan on making at least one prototype that should operate on the same principle as the theoretical device. It differs slightly from the experimental setup, so I plan to also make one based on the experiment. It also briefly describes future prospects for manufacturing it on a larger scale to be used in a variety of real-world applications.]

Matchar, Emily. “New Artificial Spider Silk: Stronger Than Steel and 98 Percent Water.”Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 26 July 2017, www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/new-artificial-spider-silk-stronger-steel-and-98-percent-water-180964176/.

[This source doesn’t discuss the silk I am studying, but it does talk about the applications for silk based on its tensile strength and ability to absorb energy. One proposed application was for protective clothing in military or bullet-proof armor. Or in sails or parachutes, or helmets. Spider silk is also biocompatible, which means that it can be used in many medical applications including stitches, tendons, skin grafts, etc. The wide range of applications for this material make it well worth researching in attempts to recreate it and produce it en-masse.]

All in a day's work

- Noah

Finally past Nov.1 !

I have finished and submitted all of my early action applications!! I applied to MIT, SMU, and TCU. Today in thesis I worked on my bibliography. I also made a list of materials used by the team at SLU in their method. I won't be doing exactly what they did, 'cause laboratory-grade equipment is $$$$. I may be able to use the same extrusion capillary and the low pH buffer, but otherwise, I'll have to come up with another idea.

So here's what SLU used:

• NT2RepCT solution (dope) 100-500 mg/ml
• NaC₂H₃O₂ 100 mM
• Round Glass Capillaries (G1, Narishige) outer: 1mm; inner: .6mm
• Pulled to diameter of 10-30 𝜇m
• 1ml syringe with Luer Lok tip (BD)
• 27 G steel needle(Braun) outer: .4mm
• connect to capillary via polyethylene tubing 
• neMESYS low pressure (290 N) syringe pump (Cetoni)

What I plan to actually use/need:

• NT2RepCT solution (dope) 100-500 mg/ml
• NaC₂H₃O₂ 100 mM
• Round Glass Capillaries (G1, Narishige) outer: 1mm; inner: .6mm
• Pulled to diameter of 10-30 𝜇m

I will ask Dr. Rising (nicely) for the NT2RepCT solution. I can easily get the sodium acetate solution from a chemical supplier. The capillaries I would have to buy somewhere... I can't find them cheap enough. I can buy them, but they're $142.00 a pop. So, no. I'd probably break it anyway. (for a comparison: the average human hair is 17-181 𝜇m, that capillary is 10-30 𝜇m!) I'll have to find another solution...

If I can't get the dope from SLU, I may try creating a solution of silk dissolved in acid (...?). Or just build a prototype and talk about it.

All in a day's work 

- Noah

10/25 College Day

Today I worked on touching up things on the MIT app, then went through the CommonApp to fill in missing info and update some things.

- Noah

MIT Interview

I had my counselor meeting and my MIT interview today. Both went very well! I am nearly done with my application. All I need is to finish one more recording, get my supplementals checked off, and I should be set! I'm really nervous and excited. I'll just have to wait until Dec/Jan to find out. In the meantime, I'll be able to spend more attention on my other applications.

- Noah

MIT App

I've been working on my MIT application today. Just tweaking some supplementals, adding information, and correcting other stuff. I have my interview tomorrow.

I should have everything done this week, including art and recordings.

- Noah

Thesis Day

Today I've been looking at materials/design for my proposed "Biomimetic Silk Spinner."
(I have included my idea so far, though I've redacted the labels). The crucial part of this will actually be getting the 'dope' from SLU. I am still working on an email to tentatively request some. If not I can try (probably can't) to make my own with e coli, (or dissolve silk in acid...?), or just make a prototype as part of the presentation (that won't work b/c I don't have all the materials.)

I have actually made a few changes material-wise, structurally I haven't.

- Noah

What I've been up to

Just got back from shreveport. We got 1st place (kinda). Yay? I am so dead. (that is a figure of speech that in this context means that I am exausted). Tomorrow's gonna be a rough day. I also have some homework to finish cause I haven't had much time over this three-day weekend. Oh the irony. But so if I don't have the best use of my mental faculties tomorrow, you'll know why.

I worked on college stuff at school wednesday (PSAT day). I finished several supplementals, and am gettgin some wotk done on my apptx. I tried to do a recornding satirfay but I physically couldnt, my chops are messed up from marching band. I had a meeting with Rice's band dir and head of physics dept and took a honors mech class friday before my interview. I thought it wnt okay, esp since i havent been on one. 

- Noah

College Work

I've been working on college stuff as the Nov. 1 deadline draws near. I have turned in all my recommendation letter information, heard back from the interviewer at MIT, and been working on supplemental essays. I still need to have all those looked over, make recordings of "Carnival of Venice: Fantasia Brillante" and "Gospel John" later, finish my art portfolio (4-5 more pieces), and finish my self-reported grades. Hopefully I'll have a hard copy of my transcript within a couple of days.

- Noah

TREK Week (9/30-10/7)

This past week was probably the most busy and hectic that I've had yet this year. With ACT, TREK, and Battle of the Bands, I have had no time to work on thesis. I have been working on college stuff though. I also earned my Eagle Scout Rank Wednesday. I will be having my Rice interview Friday and have sent an email requesting an interview time for MIT.

Oh, well actually last Sunday, I talked on the phone with someone that I knew from 3RF, and we talked about where/how/when I was to map a strewnfield, if there is one. Apparently there will be some construction going on later in November, so I need to map before then, or later in the year. At this point, the spider silk idea looks more doable and would be easier to execute than having to schedule more than a week out in the desert to spend hours looking for space metal. Hopefully, after this week (which is still packed) I'll be able to devote significantly more time on thesis/college apps.

- Noah

Friday and Saturday

To account for today and tomorrow, I will be out of town, camping,  and unable to make any progress on my thesis, I may bring paper to work on essays or short answers, but that’s about it. 

- Noah

Senior Survey

Today in Thesis, I worked on my senior survey. I hope I'm not making the responses too long. I may go back later to shorten a couple.

I also checked my math with Dr. Jensen (about the pressure I calculated in the post on Tuesday), and she said that to the best she could tell, I was right.

I will talk to 3RF Sunday about the strewnfield. I also am drafting a careful email to Dr. Rising to ask for some of the spider protein dope to experiment with. If she says yes, I probably will just drop the strewnfield idea and commit to spider silk. It's really cool to think that I already have the capability to design this thing and make calculations for it. I likely won't post all the math and methods, in case this becomes a big thing that could end up with a patent.

- Noah

Busy, Busy (Wed. 9/27)

So Wednesday, I didn't get home till about 6:30, then I went and recorded some trumpet playing till about 8:30, and by that time, I was really tired.

This technically is for college, 'cause I'm submitting the recordings I did to MIT, though I may want to make more to see if I can do it better.

- Noah

Thesis calculations - math!

So I've sent emails to the director and assistant director of the band at MIT, and the head of the physics dept. to let them know I'm interested and ask a couple of questions.

I also found out about what kind of pressure I'm dealing with for the silk spinner. I derived the equation:

P = (2ΔXm)/(πr²t²) = 2ΔXmπ⁻¹r⁻²t⁻²

to find the pressure (P) that I will need.

a simplified version:

P = (ma)/(πr²)

So, if I want the silk to travel ~7.5 meters (~24.6 feet) in 1 second, the acceleration will be 15 m/s².
I said the mass of the silk is 1X10⁻³ kg (which is very generous), and the change is negligible as more silk is extruded. I also said the radius of the opening in the extruder is .5mm.

I came out with 19,098.593171 kgm⁻¹s⁻² or ~19.1 kPa, which is ~ 2.90075 psi. So, about 3 psi should be plenty, which is good, because I was worried about it being a dangerously high pressure. The small radius combined with the small mass allows a small pressure to be sufficient enough to accelerate it.

Of course, this could be wrong, but there's only one way to find out...

I've been looking at some glass capillaries and solenoid valves to build with. I still need to acquire the acidic buffers and the all-important dope.

Update: (I found out the density of typical spider silk)

P = 2ΔXρₛLt⁻²
P = aρₛL

ρₛ being the density of spider silk which is ~1.3 g/cm³ (= 1300kg/m³), L being the length of the silk which should be 7.5m, and a being the acceleration which should be 15 ms⁻². With this new knowledge of mass, the pressure should be 146.25 kPa or ~21.21 psi. So a little less than average tire pressure - not too dangerous. I will double check my math, and I can always change the variables to lower the pressure. For an actual presentation, I think 5 ft/s is sufficient, so I can cut down on length and acceleration. (psi should be ~.88 psi for 5ft/s) However, for experimental purposes, I will start with what I have specified and modify from there.

The only thing I need to check is the maximum rate of production of fibers to make sure that the polymerization process itself can keep up with the ejection speed.

All in a day's work

- Noah

The past 4 days

I've been working on my resume and senior survey. My resume was far too long, and probably still is. I finished the senior survey at the end of last year, but I wanted to update it and change a few things.

I also plan on calling a guy at 3RF later today to talk about my thesis. I will also be sending another email to Dr. Rising.

- Noah

College Day

Today I did college stuff. But before I did that, I drafted a email to Dr. Rising to ask about further information and if I could try and replicate her results. I also resent an email to all the managers/directors at 3RF. They responded positively and are willing to let me do a strewnfield mapping. After I send that email to Dr. Rising and hear back from her, I will evaluate both choices and make a final decision.

I also went back and revised answers on my senior survey, made final edits to my commonapp essay (which I'm quite pleased with), and entered more information in commonapp/myMIT.

- Noah

What I've done today

Today, I thought more about each of my ideas, how I could effectively execute them, what the end product would be, how much help I may need, and if it is more relevant to what I want to study in college.

I think the spider silk has the most merit as of today. I can easily write a paper, and present my research, or construct a prototype of some sort. I still haven't heard back from 3RF, and the time required to go and actually map the field may not be easy to dedicate.

I still haven't made up my mind 100%, but I think spider silk has a leg up.

- Noah

I done persented

I gave my presentation today. I look forward to receiving feedback.

- Noah

Now presentations

Today I reviewed the presentation I prepared last week, practiced (kinda), read more of the papers I got, and will send another email to 3RF in the morning.

- Noah

Accounting for the past three days 9/14-today

So obviously I can't keep up with doing a blog a day.

I read more about synthetic spider silk, learned more, and designed an experimental setup based on a proposed diagram in one paper.

Still haven't heard back from 3RF. My dad is gonna give me his other contact information so maybe I'll be able to reach him then.

On the upside, I finished my last merit badge for eagle scout this week, will have my conference next week, and then my board in a week or two!

- Noah

What I've done the past 3 days (9/11-9/13)

So really, the past three days I've not done much other than read/research. I plan bringing the articles I printed to continue reading and annotating them tomorrow. (There's still a few wurds in there I don't know.)

I haven't heard back from that guy I know at 3RF. I think I'll give him another day, then email again, sending copies to him and other people in charge at 3RF. With some luck one of them is bound to read it.

At this point in time, I think I would find it more fun/enjoyable to map a strewnfield than do research on spider silk. That will depend on if 3RF is supportive of my proposal. However, with the spider silk idea, I could at least design a simple set-up to produce it, if not make a prototype. Now that would be fun! I have access to a cheap 3D printer, and I could order various valves, etc. from amazon. I could try experimenting with different polymers, or see if they could send me a sample of their synthetic dope. (which I HIGHLY doubt.) Heck, I might want to build something like that for fun, even if it's not my thesis.

- Noah

Ready to Present!

I just finished my presentation for introducing my main two ideas for my thesis.

"A Study of Biomimetically Synthesizing Spider Silk from Chimeric Minispidroins."

and...

"Creating a Meteoritical Strewnfield Map for the Comanche Iron Meteorite."

I'll get around to emailing 3RF today to see how they feel about the strewnfield mapping.

- Noah

*Edit* 9:00 PM

I just realized presentations are not tomorrow. :P

So by the 18th I should have a final topic decided, and a better suited introductory presentation to accompany it.

I also just sent an email to 3RF.

- Noah

I am reading

Today I printed out three papers Dr. Rising sent me. I have begun reading them and making annotations.

Tomorrow I will make my presentation, continue reading, and contact 3RF.

- Noah

9/8/17

Report:

I didn't do anything* yesterday.

Explanation:

I didn't have any time to do anything* yesterday.

- Noah


*- anything on my thesis project

Decisions

Today I will read through some of the documents Dr. Rising sent me.

Hopefully by the end of next week I'll have a topic I feel good about doing my thesis on.

- Noah

I have some reading to do...9/6/17

Oh man.
So, Dr. Rising (from SLU) responded. I asked her if she could refer me/send me information about her experiments...and she did. I was sent 9 documents of various articles and reports. Most of them are pretty comprehensible because they were public articles, but one of them is an actual scientific paper/report: "Carbonic Anhydrase Generates CO2 and H+ That Drive Spider Silk Formation Via Opposite Effects on the Terminal Domains." YES!

It's only 14 pages, but this could be a great kickoff point. It has an entire page dedicated to other resources, and is chuck full of data, charts, and graphs. I'm probably going to have to familiarize myself more with polymer chemistry.

Okay, so it looks like I could probably do a project on this.

Now I will scope out both the spider silk and strewnfield ideas, see what sort of end product I could make, and make a final decision.

- Noah

9/5/17

Today I emailed the person at SLU. I'm not sure when she'll respond (if at all).



SENIOR THESIS IDEAS/BRAINSTORM

Art

Art portfolio - collection of works with theme/purpose

Mapping a Strewnfield*

Comanche-Iron (Iron IAB-sLL)~19.7 kg: Contact 3RF

Llano River (Iron IIIAB)~4.32 kg; 30° 31' 20"N, 99° 44' 13"W

Wimberley (Iron IIIAB) ~ 7.8 kg; 29° 58'N, 98° 7'W

Synthetic Spider Silk

Research current synthesis methods + potential applications

Community Service Project

I shortened the list a bit. I did away with physics because I decided, despite my passion for it, physics would probably be too advanced/technical. I kept art on as a last resort or if I somehow have this crazy good idea or inspiration, I can use it. I am still keeping the service project in mind. I already finished my Eagle Scout Project this summer, so I thought I should explore my possibilities more. I also decided emailing back and forth with a senator or representative would be too not fun. 

Tomorrow, I'll talk with my parents to see if the strewnfield thing could transportatively (yeah, that's the word) be feasible. If it is, then I'll be in contact with 3RF. 

- Noah

Well... 9/4/17

Okay... so I really didn't do anything today, to be quite honest.

I mean, I wrote the blog I was supposed to yesterday...

Today, I spent hours working on college stuff. MIT really wants a ton of stuff, especially if you decide to make both an art and music portfolio.

Anyways, I promise that tomorrow I will do some actual work on this thing. It kinda feels like I've been given the reigns and told, "Go there." I have no idea where I'll end up, how I'll get there, and I really haven't picked a direction yet.

Tomorrow, I'll talk with some teachers to see what they think of my ideas. It would also be helpful to hear about some other students' theses.

- Noah

9/3/17

Yes, I forgot to post again.

Yesterday, I looked at the synthetic silk idea more. I think that if I am to do that as my project, it will have to be purely research, and then propose ideas for applications. I did find the contact information for one of the leaders of the research team at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences who actually made an important discovery.

What the SLU team found was that they could manipulate the DNA of certain bacteria to produce the spider silk proteins, which they could then collect. They could then put the protein into a highly concentrated solution, pump it into an acidic bath through a needle, and the protein would polymerize. They were able to make strands close to a kilometer long.

I also learned more about AMSilk, who seek to commercially produce silk (not sure of their methods). I heard about them years ago, and they really haven't seemed to make much progress.

I will probably email the person at SLU and see if I can learn more, and (maybe) obtain a sample of the silk for the presentation/demonstrative purposes.

SENIOR THESIS IDEAS/BRAINSTORM

Art

Art portfolio - collection of works with theme/purpose

Mapping a Strewnfield*

Comanche-Iron (Iron IAB-sLL)~19.7 kg: Contact 3RF, maybe map during thanksgiving/winter/spring break(?) All finds donated to 3RF. 

Llano River (Iron IIIAB)~4.32 kg; 30° 31' 20"N, 99° 44' 13"W

Wimberley (Iron IIIAB) ~ 7.8 kg; 29° 58'N, 98° 7'W

Synthetic Spider Silk

Research current synthesis methods + potential applications

Physics

Study of gravity/friction 

Community Service Project

Raise money for clean water

- I can obviously think of other ideas later, and maybe more local projects could work.

Political Correspondence

Raise awareness about...

nuclear waste, criminal justice reform, global warming, clean energy, etc.

(bold are ideas I like best)

- Noah

Idea Refinement - 9/2/17

I'm still getting used to this blogging thing. 

So yesterday, I worked a little on my thesis, but mainly focused on finishing all of my homework.

I thought more about each idea, especially the meteorite strewn field. Here's my new list:




SENIOR THESIS IDEAS/BRAINSTORM

Science-Art

4-Dimensional representations

Chemical arts (photograph, chromatography, crystals)

- maybe a combination of these; no focus on one area.

Art

Art portfolio - collection of works with theme/purpose

Mapping a Strewnfield*

Comanche-Iron (Iron IAB-sLL)~19.7 kg: Contact 3RF, maybe map during thanksgiving/winter/spring break(?) All finds donated to 3RF. 

Llano River (Iron IIIAB)~4.32 kg; 30° 31' 20"N, 99° 44' 13"W

Wimberley (Iron IIIAB) ~ 7.8 kg; 29° 58'N, 98° 7'W

- I found two more close(ish) meteorites, but I can expand my search parameters to different types of irons. (It needs to be an iron meteorite because stone and stony-iron ones will be very hard to find with my metal detector.)

Synthetic Spider Silk

Research current synthesis methods + potential applications

Develop new synthesis(+COMMERCIAL) methods + potential applications

Order materials, synthesize at home(?) - probably not; the only method I can think of is the needle+acid. It'd be so cool if it works though!

Music

Composition for trumpet - this is very iffy, I haven't taken any theory. I have written music before, but it likely won't be good enough for professional musicians.

Physics

Study of gravity/friction 

Community Service Project

Raise money for clean water

- I can obviously think of other ideas later, and maybe more local projects could work.

Political Correspondence

Raise awareness about...

nuclear waste, criminal justice reform, global warming, clean energy, etc.

(bold are ideas I like best)

I can continue my search for possible strewnfields, I also have to keep in mind various factors such as: who owns the land, is it the best place to look (arid climate, flat, etc.), how much has already been found, and how long ago it was found (there may not be any pieces left, or new land developments might make them impossible to find).

I think that I'll stay away from art/music because not only will it be hard to do for professional judges, but it would be hard to write a substantive paper on. 

The synthetic spider silk thing might be a possibility, I will do more research on that today.

- Noah

*-The meteorite data was taken from the Meteoritical Bulletin, an online meteorite database. (Ipi.ursa.edu) 

Senior Thesis Brainstorm - 9/1/17

So, I've been here sitting at my desk typing away now for a little less than an hour. I sometimes felt like I was just staring at my list, but then a topic would hit me. It was good just to think and get some ideas on paper that I can evaluate individually and with more depth.

Here's what I came up with today:

SENIOR THESIS IDEAS/BRAINSTORM

Science-Art

4-Dimensional representations

Chemical arts (photograph, chromatography, crystals)

Art

Carving (statue, object, portrait)

Art portfolio 

Mapping a Strewnfield

Comanche-Iron/Stone (3RF)

Local TX(?) - RESEARCH

West/North TX(?) - RESEARCH

Synthetic Spider Silk

Research current synthesis methods + potential applications

Develop new synthesis(+COMMERCIAL) methods + potential applications

Music

Composition for trumpet

Performance 

Learning/instructional program

Physics

New equation(lol, no)

Study of 4th dimension

Study of gravity/time/friction 

Community Service Project

Raise money for clean water

Political Correspondence

Raise awareness about...

nuclear waste, criminal justice reform, wage gap, global warming, clean energy, etc.

On this list, I think there may be one or two viable ideas. If not, I'll just keep thinking. 

I think either later today or tomorrow, I will scrutinize each of these ideas, shorten the list, then see if I can come up with some more. Eventually, I'll end up with a short list of some good ideas that I can choose from.

- Noah

Thursday, August 31, 2017

I know I'm writing this a day late, but I just found out we need to record a blog every day. From now on, I will.

I thought more about the two subjects I proposed previously. (I also set up my Common App, ApplyTexas, and MyMIT accounts and portfolios, and worked on my essays.) I am pretty sure the synthetic spider silk thing may be impractical as far as trying to develop new methods of potential commercial production. I don't have enough knowledge and technical background to do that. I could possibly research current production methods, and present ideas for potential applications (which are nearly universal). 

For the meteorite strewnfield, that may be more practical. However, it would require days-worth of time. The only close place I know of would be 3RF (Three Rivers Foundation), an astronomy dark-site. I have found a few meteorites there (and mapped their exact GPS coordinates). 3RF is about a 2.5-3 hour drive away. I would probably have to spend a minimum of a week up there to make any real data. I would also have to contact the university that owns the site for permission, and possibly assistance. 

Both of these ideas sound fun, but I think I will do some more brainstorming for other topics and more research into each. 

- Noah

Welcome to my Senior Thesis Blog

So this is it.

I really haven't written a blog ever before, so that's neat(?). I still am unsure what my thesis will be, probably science-related. I'm considering researching different methods, and possibly creating new methods and applications for synthetically produced spider silk. Maybe I'll map a meteorite strewn-field. I really dunno. Either of those could be interesting.

Anyways, welcome to my senior thesis blog!

-Noah