Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Using Ai Chatbots As Ideation Machines, Brett Hawley, Naomi Hollans

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The team analyzed 3 popular chatbots and found that none of them could consistently produce idea-centered essay help responses. The team approached them with 3 separate prompts, one from each of three academic subjects. The team analyzed how each chatbot adapted to the addition of personal information from the “student” and to the phrase, “what are some ideas that could help me get started?” The goal with each interaction was to receive a response in which the chatbot did not produce any pre-written content. Overall, the team’s research did not suggest that AI is fully reliable as an ideation tool.

The Borderline Between Beneficial And Dishonest Ai: A Technical Report, Seth Richards, Katherine Shell, Seth Wright

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Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been used since 1950 but it was largely overlooked by the public until 2022. Current discussions about AI center around academic integrity. This report seeks to understand if AI can be handled, used, or accepted in Lipscomb’s academic environment as a beneficial aid to writing and research, without actively doing these tasks for an individual. Generative AI is a neural network, which enables it to receive input, gather information from a database of existing content, and create new content [2]. Due to the nature of generative AI, its beneficial contributions to academia are extremely limited.

Individualized Learning As An Ai Tool: A Technical Report, Petsimnan Blessing Dayit, Kasen Holt, Nuala Roper

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The purpose of the report’s research is to test and analyze whether Artificial Intelligence (AI) platforms can be used as beneficial tools for individualized learning at Lipscomb University without violating the Academic Integrity Policy. The methods section evaluates AI on the scopes of accuracy, analytical thinking, and adaptability. The results demonstrated how each platform responded to the prompts within the lines of the scope. The answers they gave were accurate, detailed, and contained various adaptations to make explanations clearer for the user. The team concluded that AI can be used at Lipscomb as a beneficial tool for students in their …

Using Micro Satellites To Assess The Impact Of Algae Growth On Global Warming, Hursh, Vanessa

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Data gathered from microsatellites can inform policymakers and environmental agencies about the impact of algae on global warming. It can guide the development of strategies to mitigate or harness the potential benefits of algae growth.

Alternatives To Reducing Aviation Fuel-Burn With Technology: Fully Electric Autonomous Taxibot, Denzil Neo

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Aircraft taxiing operations in the aerodrome were identified to consume the most jet fuel apart from the cruise phase of the flight. This was also well supported by various research associating taxi operations at large, congested airports, with high jet fuel consumption, high carbon emissions, and noise pollution. Existing literature recognised the potential to address the environmental issues of aerodrome taxi operations by operating External or Onboard Aircraft Ground Propulsion Systems (AGPS). Designed to power aircraft with sources other than their main engines, external Aircraft Ground Power Systems (AGPS) have shown the potential to significantly cut jet fuel consumption and …

Directional Speaker Poster, Eugene Ng, Bryan Wong, Ruhaan Das

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Changi Airport is set to expand with a new terminal, Terminal 5. Currently, many of the airport's processes are manual, requiring a high dependence on staff. This proposal aims to incorporate automation and AI for a smoother passenger experience.

Comprehensive Report On Extraterrestrial Resource Extraction, Robinson Raphael

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The prospect of asteroid mining provides a plethora of riches that include metals and water. As the number of discovered asteroids continues to grow, opportunities arise to commercialize these resources within Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs). With urgent applications on Earth and in space, NEAs allow for a surge in sales. Planning forward, Astroider Aerospace Systems follows a mission split into four phases. Phase 1 develops a series of spacecraft using existing technologies, titled as Near-Earth Asteroid Miners and Near-Earth Asteroid Surveyors. Phase 2 first launches the surveyors to candidate NEAs, prospecting them for ores. To identify potential celestial bodies for this …

Contested Landscapes, Disputed Realities: An Investigation Of Socio-Environmental Conflict From Mining In Northern Ecuador: An Honors Thesis, Ian F. Hirons

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For decades, Ecuador has been one of the preeminent petrostates in South America. However, in response to recent drops in global demand and pricing for oil products, the country has made serious commitments to further develop its mineral resources. By opening a new natural resource sector, Ecuador has firmly cemented itself as a primarily extractivist nation. In the process, the national government has frequently come into conflict with activist and community groups who protest the encroachment of extractive industry. This thesis explores the various dimensions of socio-environmental conflict created by large-scale mining projects in northern Ecuador with specific attention to …

Induced Magnetic Dipole On Jupiter’S Moon Europa, Luke Francis, Michele Zanolin

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Physics can have some of the most unique and extraordinary applications of basic principles applied on a larger scale. This paper will explore the properties of induced magnetic dipoles and will examine this phenomenon directly from Jupiter's moon, Europa. These properties will be used to determine if there is liquid water beneath its icy surface and how this conclusion was verified. This will be accomplished using the concepts of magnetic dipoles and induced currents. Recent missions have also revealed estimates of the depth of Europa's subsurface ocean. There have been many measurements taken of Europa's magnetic field, and they are …

Reason In Motion, Luke Francis

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This essay will explain the historical models of the solar system, which was the known universe for most of human history. There is far more to each model than simply positioning different celestial bodies at the center of the system, and the stories of the astronomers who derived the controversial theories are not discussed often enough. The creation of these theories is part of a much broader revolution in scientific thought and marked the start of a series of observational discoveries that would change the the philosophy of science for centuries to come.

Effects Of Volcanicity In Iceland, Lilian Njoki Ng'ang'a

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Iceland is greatly known for its volcanicity as there are several eruptions that have occurred over the years. The country’s volcanology is due to its location on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which is a divergent tectonic boundary (Promote Iceland, n.d.). Due to this, the country is known to be responsible for a third of all the fresh lava on earth (Marteinn, 2018).

This research provides a deep dive into the effects of volcanicity and how the Icelandic people have adapted to it. The methods used to collect data for this research were secondary sources and interviews. It was evident that the …

Iceland: The Heat Of Change Empirical Study On Icelanders Perceptions And Observations Of Global Warming, Katalina Montalvo

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Iceland as a northern country glazed with snow and ice, beholding a diverse ecosystem. Temperature has a large impact and climate change has made its presence immediately felt. The increase in water temperature has brought new species to the land and seas of Iceland causing others to reduce in populations or having to move away to find more food or both. The research project reviews the effects of climate in Iceland, the damage the increase in temperature is causing to its fragile ecosystem, and Icelanders account of this change. Data was collected through interviews of native Icelanders, field observations, and …

Soil Conservation Efforts Affecting And Implementations To Help Tree Growth In Iceland, Justin Lawlor

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The purpose of this research was to understand and project the opinions of the public in Iceland on soil conservation and current efforts. The issue of soil erosion dates back to settlement around 1,100 years ago. The loss of vegetation from deforestation and grazing exposes the land to the effects of wind, water, and other devastating elements, leading it to erode away. The Soil Conservation Service of Iceland (SCSI) was developed to combat this issue over 100 years ago with efforts including planting trees, promoting safe farming practices, and replenishing the land. Interviews were conducted with various individuals, including a …

14-3-3zeta Role In Promoting Survival Of Cells To Facilitate Progression Of Cancer, Katie Pennington, Eranga Roshan, Joshua Andersen, Katherine K. Mccormack

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The regulatory protein 14-3-3z promotes cellular growth and survival, and high expression levels of 14-3-3z are associated with mortality in multiple cancer types. 14-3-3z binds cellular proteins in a phosphorylation-dependent manner to modulate their functions. We have been characterizing the interactome of 14-3-3z which will likely lead to candidates for novel therapies for chemoresistant cancers. Tumor cells must be able to survive in a variety of stresses within the tumor microenvironment, including hypoxia, which occurs when tumors lack adequate blood supply. Previous data from our lab suggested that 14-3-3z promotes the adaptation of tumor cells to hypoxic stress. Our hypothesis …

Simple Implementation Of An Elgamal Digital Signature And A Brute Force Attack On It, Valeriia Laryoshyna

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This study is an attempt to show a basic mathematical usage of the concepts behind digital signatures and to provide a simple approach and understanding to cracking basic digital signatures. The approach takes on simple C programming of the ElGamal digital signature to identify some limits that can be encountered and provide considerations for making more complex code. Additionally, there is a literature review of the ElGamal digital signature and the brute force attack.

The research component of this project provides a list of possible ways to crack the basic implementations and classifies the different approaches that could be taken …

The Capabilities Of The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-16 (Goes-16), Brandon M. Kane

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This report investigates the capability of the new Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-16 (GOES-16) satellite to display 16 channels of the electromagnetic spectrum, to produce images at a higher resolution at increased intervals, and to detect and display lightning. This report also discusses the main instrumentation aboard the new geostationary satellite and how it aids in creating accurate data collection, which in turn, produces quicker weather forecasts and warnings. The 16 different channels produced by the Advanced Baseline Imager aboard the new satellite are analyzed in detail as to the functions and wavelengths on which the channels operate. The image resolution …

Analyzing Cyber Threats Affecting The Financial Industry, Anna Skelton

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As critical infrastructure, financial institutions must execute the highest level of cybersecurity as the threat of a crippling cyberattack continues to develop. Malicious actors, including disenfranchised employees, state sponsored actors, and traditional hackers, all have motivations to target the financial industry, and do so frequently. However, the threat changes slightly between resource rich large institutions and their smaller, community bank counterparts. The complex and multifaceted threat must be fully understood in order to properly address and analyze solution options to preserve the security of these institutions and the economy that they contribute to.

Oxidization Of Al And A-Si As A Protective Layer, Yhoshua Wug

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Arguably, the best chance to produce a IR-optical-UV-EUV mirror for a future space observatory is a multilayer mirror coated by a thin bare aluminum layer. Using an Al layer presents challenges that have to be overcome first. Al oxidizes rapidly as soon as it comes in contact with the atmosphere. One solution is to block the oxidation of Al by covering the mirror with a protective layer and remove it once the mirror is in space. freshly, deposited a-Si would be a good candidate for protecting the mirror. Removing it in space also presents some challenges. The best way to …

Developing Instrumentation For Fabricating And Characterizing Thin Film Aluminum Mirrors, P. Claire Segura

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The best material for constructing a mirror for a broad-bandwidth telescope that is also capable of reflecting EUV light is pure aluminum. In order to test how the reflectance of aluminum in the EUV range changes as it oxidizes, a system has been constructed that allows a thin aluminum mirror to be constructed inside of a vacuum, where its reflectance can then be tested immediately. Because the experiment must take place in a vacuum, it must also be controlled remotely through a computer program, which manages the mirror fabrication process as well as the collection and analysis of reflectance data. …

Exploring The Solvability Of The Jaynes-Cummings And Jaynes-Cummings-Like Models: Implementing Quantum Control, Austen Couvertier

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In this paper we aim to explore the dynamics and overall solvability of the Jaynes-Cummings \& Jaynes-Cummings-Like models. As a lens to understand these dynamics, we focused on cases where the parameters of the system were made time-dependent. All previous work on solving the dynamics of the Jaynes-Cummings models has relied heavily on the use of differential methods and setting the parameters as time-independent constants which were zero or one. To account for this, we utilized the Wei-Norman method which allowed us to analytical solve the time-dependent Hamiltonian. Through the use of this method, we can understand the more general …

An Exploration Of Crum’S And Algebraic Crum Detection, Shae Machlus, Branton Campbell

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1. The cooperative rigid unit modes (CRUM's) of cubic perovskite were investigated at non-special k-points using ISODISTORT and Shared Shifts Mathematica code. CRUM's were generated by the T₄ irrep on the T line which confirms previously published results.
2. The solution space of the MtM CRUM detection method was determined and compared to that of the M method. Analysis by example and by theory showed the solution spaces of both methods are identical. MtM was realized to be effectively M with a lower tolerance. An improved row reduction routine is being developed that uses an adaptable ratio-driven tolerance instead of …

Reflectance Of Xuv Light On A Two Dimensional Conducting Rough Surface, Chelsea Thangavelu

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A Fortran program is set up to solve for the reflectance of XUV light from a rough two dimensional surface, resembling experimental mirrors used to reflect XUV light. Because the roughness of the surface is on the order of magnitude of the wavelength of XUV light, our approach requires a Greene's Function instead of using traditional geometrical optics or physical optics. Our Fortran program calculates the impedance (Z) matrix which requires integration over Greene's Function at non-singular points. The Z matrix helps solve for the induced surface current J(x') at non-singular points. At singular points, the program implements a series …

Observing Kelt Candidate Objects In The Search For Transiting Exoplanets, Maria Martinez

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The main goal of this project was to learn how to participate and be a part of a real observational team. We worked with the KELT exoplanet search project. While working with the KELT project we hoped to be able to confirm a candidate object as a planet. However, trying to discover a transiting planet was not our main goal for the summer. In addition, we also set out to learn how to work in an observatory, operate telescopes, and process data. The different objects we observed throughout the summer were not all determined to be transiting exoplanets, but we …

Developing A Location Detector Using Acoustical Energy Quantities, Jacey Young

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In this paper, development through the use of LabVIEW for an acoustical energy quantity detector is discussed. This detector uses the quantity of sound intensity to locate the direction of a sound source in three dimensional space with relation to the center of a spherical microphone probe placed directly under a web camera. The direction and the magnitude of the sound intensity are then used to generate an arrow pointing in the direction of the sound source and position it on top the web camera's image of the surrounding area. These quantities are then also used to highlight an area …

Differential Photometry Of High Mass X-Ray Binaries And Be Stars And Determining Standard Stars, Anne Blackwell

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Building off of the previously established Hα index (Joner & Hintz 2015), I use differential photometry to study high mass x-ray binaries and Be stars using the Hα index to define their level of activity. Specifically I focused of Cygnus X-1 and X Perseus. I took data on Cygnus X-1 (X Perseus will be studied later in the year) to look at its long and short term activity. Data analyzed using differential photometry is merged with previously collected spectroscopic data to show a seamless flow of results between techniques. I also defined the Hα values of 10 stars in the …

Using Page Method In The Two Point Method To Determine Sound Power, Christopher Reynolds

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Sound power is the energy emitted by a sound source per unit time. It is commonly used by industries to determine the noise (unwanted sound) of machinery. There are multiple recognized standards for determining the sound power of a source. The requirements for the ISO3741 standard are tedious and strict but can produce a low standard of deviation in the results. There is another method, the Two Point method, which less strict than the standards but the standard of deviation in the results vary. This paper discusses the performance of the PAGE method employed in the Two Point method to …

Magnetic Domain Morphology In [Co(4a)/Pt(7a] Thin Film, Jeremy Metzner

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A collection of results for multi-layered thin films and their magnetic domains.

Three Ways To Stabilize An Injection Lock, Ethan Welch, Dallin Durfee, Jarom Jackson

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An injection locked laser can jump out of lock if its current or temperature drifts. By monitoring the spectra or the amplitude of the injection locked laser, we have been able to detect drifts and apply feedback to prevent injection lock from breaking.

Fossil Fuel Asset Risk Analysis: Clark University Endowment, Travis A. Dodge, B. Maiwand Akbari

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The environmental and social risks of climate change are well known and perhaps inevitable. The economic and financial risks are less so. The many financial risks associated with climate change embedded in endowment portfolio fossil fuel holdings are leading many institutional stakeholders to enter into dialogue and take action. Divestment is emerging as an effective strategy for limiting portfolio exposure and tackling climate change itself.

Our team’s goals were to assess whether the Clark University endowment portfolio faces any of these risks and evaluate the impacts on asset values. Our findings show that the Clark endowment does face these same …

Using Hubble Parameter Measurements To Find Constraints On Dark Energy Based On Different Cosmological Models, William Wilson, Muhammad O. Farooq

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In this paper, Hubble parameter versus redshift data, collected from multiple resources, is used to place constraints on the parameters of two current Cosmological dark energy models. The first dark energy model considered is the Standard Model of cosmology, also known as ΛCDM with spatial curvature, which is primarily based on Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity with a spatially homogeneous time-independent cosmological constant, Λ. The second is the XCDM model which parameterize dark energy as a fluid whose density can vary with time. The H(z) data collected through different experimental sources was used to put constraints on the parameters of …