Former CABS student modeling the COVID-19 virus spread in Europe

A former student and CABS researcher, Seth Flaxman (Class of 2004), is lead author from Imperial College on predictions of COVID-19 in the coming weeks in 11 European countries. Check out their report, and see what a technical, scientific paper on this type of problem looks like. He made the code available, which is on GitHub, as well, if you want to see what this looks like for a complex system to model. Within the next week, most of the growth charts should start to turn over and begin the flattening of the curve...hopefully Europe is moving past the inflection point. Note that they do show the range of uncertainties, as all good studies should, because of limitations in data and testing, statistical effects and fluctuations it creates in the modeling, and so on. I have not found a similar, up to date report for the US yet. This is the type of research one can do with a good background and expertise in computer programming.

Thanks, Seth!! Seth did some really cool CABS research on periodic heat flow while in high school, and actually went to London to represent the US through the JSHS contest (which he won at regionals, and then did well at nationals to advance as one of six US students to the International fair). He built the experiment in his bedroom, and also modeled the heat flow using a free version of FlexPDE.

Student Research Publishing Options

With the unfortunate circumstances of COVID-19, all student events and competitions around the country have been cancelled, including the International Science and Engineering Fair, or ISEF. Many students who have done wonderful research and qualified at their regional and state fairs will not have the chance to present their work. Those students may want to consider trying to publish their papers in some of the following student journals, listed below. 

Of course, for students who work in university labs, if you get good results, your professor may very well want to publish. Students can and have be first or second author on such papers, and this is a rarity for high school students - it is worth asking a professor if results might be publishable.

A third option is for teachers and schools to have a website or page dedicated to posting student reports. This is a good idea so they are at least online, and can be used as good examples of high school work for future students. Here is one example, with dozens of papers from former students (with their permission) that are often used by current students to get ideas, see what research looks like for a high school student, and also are used as a template when a current student is writing up his/her research. 

Students can submit their research papers to the following journals for publication:

• Sigma Xi, Chronicle of the New Researcher
• The Columbia Junior Science Journal
• Journal of Emerging Investigators (all papers accepted, grad student review)
• National High School Research Journal of Science (student-reviewed)

Journal of Experimental Secondary Science (peer reviewed)

• *Note that many CABS projects can be used by other teachers as lab demos, students labs, or inquiry projects for their students. You might consider writing a paper, co-authored between student and teacher, and submit to teacher professional journals, such as The Physics Teacher or The Science Teacher.

Why the rush to Shut Schools and Large Public Spaces and Events down???

We are in an unprecedented time of shutting many aspects of civilization down around the world, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But why the rush and urgency???

It is the math and science behind how a disease spreads, which is referred to as exponential growth. Please check out a really well done explanation of what this means, how it works, and how experts use a mathematical model to simulate the spread of a disease. It uses actual data from China to make its point, and you will get the gist of why social distancing and washing hands make such a BIG DIFFERENCE in the number of people who might become infected. For anyone who does math modeling, it also explains sensitivity testing really well.

Please check it out, and gain new appreciation for some of the math you learn in school but might not know how it is applied to the world!

Patterns formed by evaporating fluids

Some really beautiful patterns have been observed through evaporative processes of droplets of fluids, especially when the droplets contain a mixture of different fluids. This type of work could be done in a high school laboratory or at home. Check out the video.