After a prolonged wait, the COSMOS program has finally begun, where students were amazed at the profound lessons and experiences offered, and nowhere is this more evident than in Cluster 2, covering Nanotechnology and Nanochemistry. We were enthralled by Prof. Shaowei Chen’s lessons on fullerenes and the formation of nanoparticles, while Prof. Roger Terrill captured our minds through his lectures on particle physics. Though these concepts were difficult and intimidating at first, Prof. Chen provides a tangibility to the subject that allows us to grasp the concepts with more ease, and Prof. Terrill’s dynamic attitude keeps us refreshed and ready to learn. From buckyballs to the Bohr model, the content we learned may have been microscopic, but their impacts and potentials may revolutionize the future. We were even shown how, using nanotechnology, it’s possible for a laser to create a pulse with an intensity that matches the entire energy consumption of the United States! Along with this, we learned valuable insight about uncovering research papers for our final presentation. Most recently, we performed a virtual lab where we witnessed the formation of nanoparticles from boiling citric acid, creating a mesmerizing process to enjoy. No doubt about it, this is a promising start for the month to come. - Viggo Kovas
Cluster 3 Bubblers, Feathers, and Fur: Exploring Animals in the Ocean and on Land
This week, I was able to interview Gabriel Franchet-Scaer and Catherine Zhang about their experience with Cluster 3, which has been hard at work, learning how to read scientific articles and already getting started on their final projects. They started the week off with an outdoor session, embracing the different nature they have in their neighborhoods. It was like having a field day together, but with each of them observing their own different fields. On their second day, they were assigned eye-opening conservation articles that depicted what will happen to marine mammals in the coming centuries. These articles all had a common thread: the destruction that human interference causes in marine ecosystems. All of Cluster 3 needed to pause and reflect, thinking about how actions like building dams for fresh water will affect the ecosystem. This has given them a whole new perspective on actions we previously perceived as “normal.” Prof. Shawn Noren then put them into groups to further dissect these articles, and all three groups from Cluster 3 will be presenting our newly gained knowledge first thing next week. Cluster 3’s first week ended with a virtual visit to The Marine Mammal Center, where the staff walked them through patient charts and their caretaking strategies for marine mammals. One special staff member named Karina answered all of their burning questions and showed them ways we could get involved, such as joining some of their programs such as Stewardship Saturdays and Ocean Conservation Leaders. Everyone in Cluster 3 had a phenomenal first week and are busy preparing for their presentations on Monday! - Sharis Hsu
Cluster 4 The Physics of Single-Atom-Thick Sheets
This week, Cluster 4 dove headfirst into the captivating realms of crystallography, classical mechanics, and quantum mechanics — all while forming friendships and getting to know one another! Starting things off in our morning course, Prof. Aiming Yan taught us about different types of nanomaterials, focusing specifically on two-dimensional, or one-atom-thick, sheets. Over the week, we learned about crystalline symmetry, planes, rotation axes, and the elements of point and translational symmetry, building a foundation for our discussion of symmetry in lattices and unit cells. To end the week, Prof. Yan taught us about Miller indices and we got to practice calculating them on our own in breakout groups. Meanwhile, in our afternoon course, Prof. Jairo Velasco showed the significance of 2D materials and how they can change the future–imagine flexible smartphones! We then shifted to a discussion of classical mechanics and waves and used calculus, physics, and trigonometry, to derive various equations explaining the properties of waves. Afterwards, we examined the photoelectric effect, as well as Young’s double-slit experiment and how it demonstrates wave interference. We finished off this week by discussing how light behaves as both a particle and a wave, ending at a daunting cliffhanger: the famous Schrödinger equation. It has certainly been an exciting and challenging week, and we can’t wait for the next! - Tania Firouzabady
Cluster 5 Video Game Design
To kick off the first week of COSMOS, Cluster 5 pursued a greater knowledge of video game design by exploring the question: “What even is a game?” with projects ranging from modifying Rock, Paper, Scissors to creating as many simple games as you can in under two hours. Each day began with a presentation of an outlandish game that our teacher found, such as a gong greeting game or a kissing simulator with disturbingly long tongues, and ended with students showcasing their projects from the day. Students were encouraged to look at games from the perspective of a developer and were forbidden from using a word as bland as “fun” (sorry, f*n) to describe a game. We then learned to program using a game engine called Processing and generated memes, ping pong games, and pictures of houses — sometimes with green skies, but houses nevertheless. With this experience, even the newest coding beginners we able to start programming games of their own. - Jordan Lee
Cluster 6 Introduction into Smart Power
To kick off their program, Cluster 6: Introduction to Smart Power began the week with an early morning coffee talk to get to know each other. After creating name tag slides to introduce themselves, they got into the basic physics laws to lay the foundation for upcoming lectures. To take breaks from learning, Cluster 6 played virtual games such as Stars and Galaxies, which sorted students into groups based on common interests. Being able to comprehend the lectures was no easy feat; when students entered breakout rooms we discussed how we felt confused about the concepts of vector and scalar products, area vectors, electric flux and net charges, and all the calculations behind them. We thought we had no control over how fast-paced the class lectures went, but after having given the teachers feedback about how the students felt, the teachers were able to slow down and explain everything more clearly. We were finally able to understand concepts such as Gauss’s law, which was as simple as trying to find the electric flux through any charged surface. We also reviewed some basic concepts of energy and force from Newton’s law. (Fun fact: walking in a circle could mean you’ve done no work at all if there is no force being exerted on the surface!) As they say, the first time learning something new won’t always go well, but our cluster is looking forward to the next few weeks to digest more information!
In evening lectures, Cluster 6 had the opportunity to explore tools that display data online such as MATLAB and Python. These lectures were taught by their amazing TAs: Sifat Chowdhury and Kejun Chen. As COSMOS heads into its second week, Cluster 6 has gotten to know each other and looks forward to an amazing experience this summer! - Anvi Kalucha
Cluster 7 Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology
Despite how weird it is to attend COSMOS virtually this year, Cluster 7: Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology was in high spirits this week as we navigated through the fascinating world of microbes and investigated the environment. To start, we were given an overview of microbiology, the study of life too small to be seen by the naked eye, and learned about the different types of pollutants we experience in our daily lives through websites detailing pollution in our areas and experimentation. Though we do not have access to campus labs, absolutely nothing will get in the way of Cluster 7 and our experiments! On Tuesday, we set up our home labs to begin culturing lactobacillus bacteria in cheese and yogurt, or other fermented foods such as kimchi in order to observe the growth of bacterial colonies. Meticulously, we overcame technical struggles to create our very own particle sensor to measure particulate matter, microscopic liquid droplets and solid particles that act as air pollutants, in our homes. Through online messaging platforms, such as Discord, and assigned group projects, the awkward feeling of seeing new people is rapidly morphing into new connections, and we’re excited to see what’s to come! - Wendy Li
Cluster 8 Marine Mammals Oceanography
The greatest cluster of all time, Cluster 8, has finally gotten to meet each other, form relationships, and explore the ocean together! This week, we kicked it off bright and early by learning about marine zones, food chains, morphology, and taxonomy. We started at the bottom of the food chain, viewing net-plankton, which Prof. Baldo Marinovic had collected from the wharf. He showed us the two types of net-plankton — diatoms and dinoflagellates — using his microscope. All of us were terrified of meeting a brand new group of 25 other peers from all over California. However, we quickly connected on Discord, chatted in breakout rooms, and laughed (or maybe cringed) at Prof. Baldo’s dad jokes. On Wednesday, both Prof. Baldo and Prof. Shawn Noren surprised us with amazing guests — their dogs! Prof. Noren then took us on a virtual Monterey Bay adventure, letting us marine-animal-watch from the safety of our own homes. We glimpsed creatures such as the humpback whale, California sea lion, and Pacific white-sided dolphin. Thankfully, no one fell overboard! - Sharis Hsu
Cluster 9 The Building Blocks of Life: Molecules and Cells in Biology
Fresh in its beginnings, Cluster 9, The Building Blocks of Life: Molecules and Cells in Biology hit the ground running in our morning course with Dr. Wang. In the mornings, we reviewed the basics of a cell, conducted presentations on archaea (in which everyone performed phenomenally!), learned about gene expression, and, most importantly, furiously read over research papers. For our afternoon course, with the help of Dr. Shanks and our wonderful teaching assistants, we talked about some logistics in thinking like a scientist, going over some research papers, and even beginning to research our own gene of choice (which we will be presenting later on this month)! Over the past days, we all went from being strangers to picking out a research partner for our final presentations on our gene of interest. I can attest that it has definitely been hectic but lots of fun getting to know everybody. We’re all looking forward to the next few weeks together! - Cathleen Chow
Cluster 10 Semiconductor Materials and Device Engineering
Welcome to Cluster 10: Semiconductors and Device Engineering! It seems like Cluster 10 students are excited to begin their COSMOS journey, with so many smiling students on camera. After a brief introduction from Prof. Michael Oye and Prof. Nobuhiko Kobayashi, (Prof. Kobayashi mentioned his initial goal of being a rock star) we were off with a bang!
This week, our lectures were centered on semiconductors and their unique properties. We covered various types of transistors, which regulate the amount of charge flowing through a point, and their history and characteristics. The overarching theme behind these ideas was how people would eventually shorten transistors from a micrometer to just a few nanometers within a generation!
We also dealt with the mechanisms of heat flow. At first, the concept seemed unrelated to semiconductors, but high power consumption can lead to overheating, which could destroy your computer. Also, we talked all about how x-rays were related to “exciting” electrons with photons and how electrons could only jump a “quantized” number of levels. (Hmm, might this might be related to quantization of the elementary charge? I mean, you cannot have a fraction of an electron. The distance between the electron and proton must be an integer multiple of the Bohr radius, the default distance between an electron and a proton.) And finally, we discussed real-world transferable skills like interpreting a scientific journal since we as students always want to know why we are learning what we are learning.
All in all, this first week was extremely fast-paced, but cool at the same time. We could all use this weekend to catch our breaths, but we’re excited to see what the following weeks will bring. And a tour of PhD student Emily Enlow later on? Wow, that would be amazing. - Zhihao Qi
Cluster 11 Feedback Control with Applications to Robots
With the commencement of the 2021 COSMOS program at UCSC, Cluster 11, Feedback Control with Applications to Robotics, has hit the ground running. This week, I had the chance to talk to Sarah Zhang from Cluster 11 to learn more about what's been going on in their classes.
On Day 1, members of Cluster 11 jumped straight into learning the nuts and bolts of robotics and feedback control. Topics ranged from what a robot is, to the types and uses of robots, to feedback and feedforward control. With these concepts at hand, the final projects were introduced on the same day; cluster members formed groups and embarked on their journey to analyze and present a robotic application, strategy, or company.
The next day, students met graduates of the 2019 COSMOS at the Alumni Enrichment Event; team bonding ensued over extremely important debates, such as NorCal vs SoCal and Popeyes vs Chick Fil A. Members got to explore the world of motion on Day 3 with an Edison robot, speeding into discussions about position, velocity, and acceleration.
It's clear that Cluster 11 has much scheduled for the next three weeks. Sarah Z. excitedly described how "[the] professors mentioned that we will be using MATLAB to program real simulations. I’ve heard about MATLAB before and how it’s quite challenging to use, but I’m looking forward to trying it out and working on projects in general. I think it will be fun to apply my background knowledge along with what I’ve learned so far." - Sarina Mayya
Cluster 12 Scattering and Diffraction of Materials
The first week of Cluster 12 was definitely challenging but also rewarding. We are all used to and tired of Zoom by now, but there were still some unexpected obstacles to overcome in the online environment. We began with an introduction to the underlying concepts of scattering and diffraction, exploring particle-wave duality, Fraunhofer and Bragg diffraction, and the symmetry elements of different geometries and isomers using molecular model sets. Despite not having the chance to interact with each other in person, we still had the opportunity to get to know each other through Zoom sessions, cluster events, and Discord. Some exciting experiments we conducted include a diffraction experiment with lasers and CDs/DVDs that showcased scattering and a reciprocal lattice demonstration with more lasers (don’t worry, no one was blinded by the brilliance of the experiments). We also had a surprise cat reveal on Zoom! Everyone enjoyed listening to Prof. Dave Belanger’s remarkable research stories and guessing Prof. Scott Oliver’s Zoom backgrounds. To finish up the week, we looked at the logarithmic behavior of nuclear fission, magnetic order, radioactivity, point groups, and X-rays. After an amazing first week, Cluster 12 is looking forward to more great experiences in the weeks to come! - Jamin Xie