Heyyyyyyy!!! How’s it goin? So glad you’re here. 💖My name is Sasha, and I’m a 15 year old based in Ontario, Canada, and I’m currently in an innovation program called TKS! I love material science, reading, and biking/running. Let’s dive right in - what was I up to in April?
This month I have been working on both material science things and also a MOONSHOT🚀 (more to come soon:)). So I don’t have too much to show yet, but I will have more for you in May!
In the meantime, I wrote two articles, one about the requirements for success and the other about moles and molar mass. You can check them out here and here!
Material Science
Material science is one of those things that can be applied to literally any field. Even AI, the least physical thing ever, has a huge application in material science - materials informatics!
I didn’t realize the potential until speaking to a few experts, but the basic idea is that there are a zillion possible materials in the world🌍. Currently, to find them, we use trial and error. 💡
Let’s think about this for a second. In what world does that make sense? ☠️There are 1000% applications where that is the best method, but it is incredibly inefficient. Also, the best we have right now is looking at already measured properties and guessing what might work. 🤔But with AI, we could predict what would be next. This could drastically improve the materials design process! 🎯
Check out this podcast🎧 to learn more about how AI and material science intersect!
Space Tech X Material Science
Sorry guys, I’m going on a little material science spiel right now. 🤩 I want to tell you a bit more about what I’m currently working on. Keerthana knows a lot about space tech, but she recently discovered the (amazing) field of material science, so we’re currently working on a project in the intersection of the two fields!! 🚀
Let me break it down for you.
When you go to the moon, or space, you need a space suit. Space suits keep humans alive in space. 🤝And when you go on the moon, there is moondust. Like a lot. And the thing is, this is a HUGE problem. 🌑
Lunar (moon) dust sticks to literally everything, including teflon, which is specifically designed to be a slippery material. And when it sticks to space suits, a lot of bad stuff can happen.😶 For example:
the space suit can overheat🔥
dust can cover the visor and block the astronaut’s view👀
it can scratch up the suit😱
clog joints and zippers🤐
cause seal failures😭
if it is inhaled or gets on the astronaut’s skin it can cause irritation and be very dangerous🤯
Let me tell you a bit about the characteristics of moondust. To start, it’s charged, electrically. ⚡This is why it sticks to everything. When the sun☀️ hits the surface of the moon, it causes the dust particles to be charged. Also, this dust is jagged, which is why it can scratch up the spacesuit. It also has tiny barbs on it, which is another reason why it sticks. And the fact that it’s a skin irritant also indicates that its toxic to humans. 😬
This is a massive problem that not too many people are working on, especially because the space suit industry is already niche. So Keerthana and I are hoping to make a textile coating to mitigate the effects of lunar dust! 🧠
This coating would need to be durable, fireproof, have thermal stability, and be conductive. 📝
Currently we are looking into charging our coating to repel the dust, but we are finding a couple issues with that so we will need to address those. I’m pretty excited for it! 🚀
Moonshot🚀
This is our end of year project in TKS! (It’s so TRAGIC that TKS is ending- 😭x1000). Anyways, I won’t think about that for right now. So the concept of a moonshot is thinking 10X, not 10%.
There are 3 key components:
massive problem
sci-fi solution
innovative tech
Our group is focusing on climate change. We have a specific area within it, but I won’t get too deep into it right now!
This in incredibly exciting to me and I’m so glad we get to work on something like this. I’m working with Adheena, Fatma, and Omar. More to come soonnnn! 😊
Track
It’s track season, finally! Very exciting times. We’ve only had 2 meets so far, but they have been amazing! Here are some pictures: 🏃♂️💨
Quote
This is something you’ve probably already realized, but it is incredibly powerful. And there are so many people that have talked about it, from Mo Gawdat to Eliud Kipchoge. 🤩
(Another recommendation XD)
There is no good or bad without us, there is only perception. There is the event itself and the story we tell ourselves about what it means.
-Ryan Holiday in “The Obstacle is the Way”
Perception is quite literally everything. It is the only thing that makes anything have any meaning. If you choose not to be harmed, were you ever harmed? Nothing is terrible without us making it so. 🧠
An example from the podcast I linked above is “my partner said something hurtful to me last night.” This is the event. The perception would be “he/she doesn’t love me anymore.” 💔
But where did that come from? It’s made up. You are the only thing that determines if something is good or bad.
💭When you go into conversations thinking that the other person has something to teach you, wouldn’t you learn more than going in assuming you are better?
💭When something “bad” happens, say you forgot your phone at home, is it worth your time to spend the rest of your day being mad about that?
The answer to both these questions should be obvious. Currently I am reading The Obstacle is the Way as you probably figured out, and this book highlights the importance of perception as well. Here is an exert:
When people are:
— rude or disrespectful:
they underestimate us. A huge advantage.
— conniving:
we wont have to apologize when we make an example out of them.
— critical or question our abilities:
lower expectations are easier to exceed.
— lazy
makes whatever we accomplish seem all the more admirable.
One of the most powerful resources humans have is the power of choice. Can a lizard🦎 really say “I choose not to be upset that my dragonfly snack ran away”? Most likely not, but humans can. It reminds me of a stoicism mindset.
When we percieve something as bad, it’s likely because we think that this is not how things are supposed to be. Our expectation is not matching with reality, and we are upset by that.
Your perception quite literally determines your life.
📝Action Items for you
go into a conversation trying to learn as much as possible, try to see things from that person’s unique point of view
ask: how can I view this as a gift?
Books/Podcasts
🎧Materialism Podcast by Taylor Sparks and Andrew Falkowski
The fact that I referenced it above it probably enough to let you know that OF COURSE I was going to recommend this! 🥳Fantastic podcast that dives technically deep into material science. 🤩I also had the pleasure of talking to Taylor Sparks while working on the space suit project! 🤯It was a wonderful conversation and helped a ton. Anyways, you should definitely check it out is you have even the slightest interest in material science.
📕Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
I mean, Malcolm Gladwell is an amazing author and his books are always so information dense and engaging to read, so that speaks for itself. One of the biggest things I took away from this book was the effect of culture. For example, on a plane✈️, when the captain makes a mistake, the first officer is less likely to be direct and point it out when they come from countries such as Brazil🌎. The culture there is to be obedient to your superiors. However, in something like the United States, the first officer would literally grab the controls if they thought something was wrong. The former, Brazil, believes that it is the listener’s 👂job to interpret the meaning, while a country like the United States believes it is the speaker’s🗣️ job to communicate clearly. Interesting, isn’t it? There are tons more examples, in the book, highly recommend you check it out.
Upcoming
moonshot results 🚀
update on spacesuit textile🌌
more articles ….?🤩
track collages 🔥
See you soon! Thanks so much for reading!
—Sasha 🫶