Month: September 2018

An Essay on Astrophysics and Scott Duncan Tremaine

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Leon Ritterbach

5A, 2017/2018

Astrophysics is a very interesting field of science. You explore the whole universe, from tiny Asteroids to huge black holes. Every time you solve one of the mind breaking riddles that the universe has to offer, it raises new questions. You can find out how the universe works and how forces like gravity form the universe we know act on us. Scott Duncan Tremaine is one of the people who were lucky enough to be able to study astrophysics. Today, he is 68 years old and one of the world’s leading astrophysicists. He is a fellow of the Royal society and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He made predictions about planetary rings he has written an outstanding book “Galactic Dynamics” and named the Kuiper belt. Scott Tremaine’s research is focused on the dynamics of a wide range of astrophysical systems, including planetary rings, comets, planetary systems, galaxies, and clusters of galaxies (structure that consists of anywhere from hundreds to thousands of galaxies). He is known for his contributions to the theory of Solar Systems, Galactic Dynamics and his prediction of small moons keeping the belts of planets in place. Tremaine is so popular that there is even an asteroid named after him, 3806 Tremaine. (Canada under the stars/ 2007), (Princeton University, Department of astrophysical sciences, 2018), (Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics/ 2012), (National Academy of Sciences/ 2002), (The Royal Society/ 1994), (Scott Tremaine – Video Learning – WizScience.com/ 2015), (IAS/ 2018) 

Tremaine grew up in Toronto. He never liked remembering things, like in history. Scott always preferred Maths and Physics. Once he understood the topic, he didn’t have to remember everything. He decided to study Physics and got his bachelor’s degree at McMaster University in 1971, his PhD at Princeton University four years later. During the 1970’s, he studied the rings of Saturn and Uranus, while at California Institute of Technology, but more to that later on. For 10 years, he was the first director of the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (also called CITA) at the University of Toronto. After that he received the chair of the Astrophysical Sciences department at Princeton University. In 2007 he left Princeton to become the Richard Black Professor of Astrophysics at the Institute of Advanced Study where he is still working today. Of course, he has won several awards during his career, one of them being the Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics of 1997, a major international award. (Canada under the stars/ 2007), (Math4Science/ 2016), (Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics/ 2012), (Scott Tremaine – Video Learning – WizScience.com/ 2015), (IAS/ 2018) 

As I already mentioned, Tremaine studied the rings of Saturn and Uranus in the 1970’s. While he was studying, he found out that collisions between ice chunks, which are orbiting the planets in these rings, should cause the rings to spread out. However, they don’t. Then in 1979 Scott, together with Peter Goldreich, predicted that the Rings of Saturn and Uranus are hold in place by small moons. They also predicted that there are density waves in Saturn’s rings. At first, many Astronomers were sceptic about it. In 1981, two years after the prediction, the Saturnian moons Prometheus and Pandora were discovered. Another five years later the Voyager 2 spacecraft flew past Uranus and confirmed the prediction. This turned out to be a high point in his career. However, his first book Galactic Dynamics turned out to be another high point in his career. Tremaine wrote it together with James Binney, who is also a fellow of the Royal Society, in the year 1987 and it quickly became a reference work in the field. The books nickname is “the Bible of galactic dynamics” and it is used by students as well as researchers. The book describes our present understanding of the structure and dynamics of stellar systems such as galaxies and star clusters (basically big groups of stars). (Canada under the stars/ 2007), (IAS/ 2018), (Math4Science/ 2016), (Google Books – Galactic Dynamics/ 2018) 

Tremaine and two other canadian Astrophysicists confirmed the existence of the Kuiper belt (a belt of astrophysical objects like comets) using some computer simulations. With those computer simulations, the Team was able to show that the comets we see can´t just come from the Oort cloud. They also came up with a theory about a cloud of comets which surrounds the sun with a distance of about 1.6 lightyears, so it is way further away from the sun than the outer planets and the Kuiper belt. At that time, it was thought that most of the comets we see, have the origin in the Oort cloud. Using this theory, they were able to prove the predictions the astronomer Julio Fernández made in an article published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1980. He said, that a comet belt would be required, because the number of comets seen didn’t match up with the number of comets possible. After the team of three proved Fernández prediction, Scott named the comet belt, Kuiper belt, because Fernández wrote the word Kuiper as well as the words comet belt in his first sentence of his article. It is located in the outer Solar System, extending from the orbit of Neptune. (Canada under the stars/ 2007), (English Oxford Living Dictionaries/ 2018), (IAS/ 2018), (The Royal Society/ 1994) 

Thanks to Tremaine’s research, we are able to understand the universe a little bit better. He made big contributions to the field of Astrophysics with his predictions, which are now proven, about planetary rings, disks and his theory about Galactic Dynamics. The students who learned from him in the past or probably will learn from him in the future should be thankful to have the opportunity to learn from one of the worlds leading Astrophysicists. I was always interested in Astrophysics, Astronomy and basically all things that have to do with the universe. Learning so much about a great astrophysicist just increased my interest. (Canada under the stars/ 2007), (IAS/ 2018) 

 Sources

About an Art Exhibition – May 2018

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Alexander Galle

7A, 2017/2018

The first ever Art Exhibition took place in the timeframe from the 23rd until the 25th of May 2018.

Hosted and run by the students of the Visual Arts Department of the ISK. Parents and visitors could get in touch with the young artists and enjoy their artworks live and in colour. The students used a wide range of materials from traditional media such as Gouache, Acrylic Illustrations to modern photography and digital design.

Not only did the students learn important lessons for the Art Exhibition required in the IB Diploma Programme, but also for the future lives of the blooming artists.

The Gala Evening on the 25th of May was the highlight of the exhibition. A festive program included beautiful music as well as food and drinks at the buffet with homemade food and drinks.

As an emotional symbol the art teacher Stefanie Zierer became the “Golden Scissors“ handed over by Alexander Galle. This symbol stands for the three lovely years full of laughter, serious art business and the best atmosphere to work in.

 

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The Man Who Tickled the Dragon’s Tail

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Ádám Hevér

Year 6, 2017/2018

When we are first given a few pieces of information at school regarding the history of  nuclear weapons while delving into the depths of World War II and its aftermaths, the prominent “mastermind” behind these macabre tools of mass destruction we read about is J. Robert Oppenheimer, the highly intellectual man behind the well‐known Manhattan Project, wherein he would lead the creation of the atomic bomb, one of which targeted Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, causing such gargantuan and horrendous damage that it leaves the vast majority of people aghast when confronted with just the descriptions, let alone imagery of this titanic attack. However, this scientist would not have been able to construct something this abominable on his own. Even though the destruction was hideous and appalling, assembling such weapons with extremely perilous mechanisms and hazardous materials required the superlative intellect of numerous human beings, and of course the powerful hands of many stalwart workers. In this essay, I am going to write about one of the ingenious minds behind the Manhattan Project: the Canadian Louis Alexander Slotin.

What hooked me when I was reading about this man was his rather short but eventful life, and that, contrary to how crucial his deeds were, there is scarcely any in‐depth written source about his life. The very first picture featuring Louis I stumbled upon showed a man in his thirties leaning casually on a partially assembled scientific breakthrough, “The Gadget” bomb. [1] This man in the photograph seems tranquil while handling the rather delicate device with a bit of frivolity. He is wearing an unbuttoned shirt, coarse shorts, boots, and a pair of elegant sunglasses. The tent he was in allowed workers not to be directly exposed to the rays of the scalding sun, though judging by their looks, the heat still must have been sweltering ‐‐ they were in Los Alamos after all. How did Louis garner the attention of the people who invited him to what we now know as the birthplace of the first atomic bomb?

Louis Slotin was born on 1 December 1910 into a Yiddish‐speaking family in Winnipeg. He was nurtured there in a milieu consisting mostly of Eastern European immigrants, and from early on, he seemed to have been blessed with a high intelligence which enabled him to graduate with a M.Sc. in geology. With the aid of one of his mentors the headstrong Louis, still infused with a craving for more knowledge, delightedly seized the opportunity of studying abroad in London with a fellowship at King’s College. There, he continued pursuing his interests under the supervision of a man named Arthur John Allmand, the chair of the chemistry department. This person indisputably played a pivotal role in shaping the ardent Louis, as he provided him with the adequate material – and companionship – for his scientific studies. In 1936, now versed in physical chemistry, Slotin earned a Ph.D. degree, and for his thesis he won a prize. In 1937, he made an auspicious decision and was accepted to the University of Chicago as a research associate, and there he established a prosperous rapport with nuclear chemistry; this newly developed penchant never seeped out of him.

His thoroughly acquired expertise in the fields of nuclear chemistry and radiobiology were what made the United States government pay attention and invite the astute Slotin to join the Manhattan Project; in December 1944, he was relocated to the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. His work there was to establish the critical mass values of certain materials. This required him to be quite a daredevil because his life was often hanging by a thread; the job was compared to “tickling the tail of a sleeping dragon”.

After the war, Slotin partly rued his own involvement in the project and expressed his plans to return to teaching. He might have carried in himself a premonition as well; one of his colleagues had lost his life in 1945 while conducting a dangerous experiment with a plutonium core. On 21 May 1946, while testing the core of the same kind (which was later given the notorious moniker of “demon core”), Slotin’s screwdriver accidentally slipped, initiating a chemical reaction which exposed him to a fatal dose of radiation. After nine days of excruciating pain, he succumbed to the grim reaper’s scythe on 30 May 1946.

In his brief life, Slotin yearned for and devoured knowledge. The project he, at first, eagerly took part in led to a more exhaustive understanding of the most perilous materials, and to a breakthrough weapon of monstrous, abhorrent power, which is now part of a larger arsenal of such or even more deadly devices. These are today in the hands of our leaders, who, with just a mere push of a button, could commence a war with these heinous tools; the damage and destruction could push our planet to the brink of a near‐apocalyptic state.

Could the construction of the atomic bomb have been evitable? I do not think so. The marvellous yet petrifying minds of humans know no boundaries when it comes to violence, inhumanity, and brutality. This weapon was not the first example. If technology keeps evolving at this fiendish pace, and if wars do not stop (if one just casts an eye over history, there are clues that the chances of a lasting, ultimate peace are beyond low), there is only more to come, rationally speaking. Let us just hope that another World War will not take place.

Unlike Einstein, we now have a brief overview of the weapons that would be utilized in a war of this kind, but I regrettably have to say that he was undeniably right when he claimed that “World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones”. Back then, he only witnessed snippets of what humans are capable of doing now, but the situation today sadly justifies his statement and foreshadows a dismal, gloom‐ridden future.

[1] Louis Slotin with the Gadget Bomb during the Trinity Test. January 01, 1945. Los Alamos National Laboratory Archives.

Sources