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Maggie Huang

Image depicts asteroid Bennu against starry black sky

The Modern Explorer’s Guide to the Unknown

In a world where the Internet and websites like Google Maps make it possible for nearly anyone to see Earth’s surface in detail, is there anything left for us to find? Are the days of explorers setting off in search of the unknown behind us?

Exploration in the 21st century is alive and kicking! Humans are constantly exploring and discovering new things that range from new species to new sub-atomic particles. Throughout our time as explorers into the unknown, we have relied on our innovation and technological prowess to aid us in the journey. From ships to planes to rovers, technology, and science have played a fundamental part in discovering the unknown. In this article, we hope to shed some light on modern explorers’ technologies to explore the land, the sea, and beyond.

Two large hands descend over a microchip which is enlarged to look like a piece of land. One hand represents China and the other the US. Each hand is placing a building on the microchip to claim that piece of land. Around these two hands, many other buildings have already been placed.

The science behind semiconductors: where STEM meets politics

Semiconductors aren’t something you might think about very often, but you might’ve heard
about them in the news. Recently, there’s been a flash of news articles about the
semiconductors from Taiwan, and how the U.S. and China both want their hands on them. But
what are semiconductors, and what makes them so valuable that countries will fight over them?

Mirror, mirror: The psychology of how we determine the fairest of them all

What makes a person attractive? This question has been debated hotly throughout history. Our sayings tell us that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”, while our stories describe objective measures of beauty, such as the magic mirror in Snow White, which unequivocally evaluates who is the fairest of them all. More recent contributions to the beauty argument are similarly mixed: motivational throw pillows assure us that beauty is about being yourself, incels argue that beauty is in the jawline of the Chad, skincare gurus promise it’s in their special seven-step routine.