Embrace Limitations

I found it very interesting how the speakers from our last visit to JPL used art and their creative abilities to not only come up with new ideas, but also to educate others. Watching the Mars in a Minute videos, looking at the Mars visualizations and playing with 3D printed rovers made me realize how important the artistic side of science is in helping me understand complex concepts. We grew up with shows like Bill Nye the Science Guy and Magic School Bus because they were engaging, but also direct and thorough.

The Mars in a Minute videos reminded me of one of the (many) science YouTube channels I watch called ASAP Science. They use simple marker drawings on a chalkboard and identifiable imagery to help people of all ages to grasp the science behind things in every day life. This one below is perfect for our Optical Illusion project that is coming up - it shows how nearsightedness and farsightedness affects how one may see the world:

Oddly enough, thinking about using art in education made me think of my overall approach to art. The first speaker, Scott Hume talked about all the ways he has "embraced limitations" in his career - this was a phrase he repeated a few times. It makes sense, since in order to reach the masses with tricky science, it's best to simplify in order to make the concepts more universal. Thinking about art on its own, it can be easier for it to speak to people if a grand piece is stripped down to the conceptual. I've been learning about conceptual art in some of my other classes, particularly performance art.

This kind of thinking is starting to change my view on how I approach my work. It's so natural for me to think big and try so hard to make something work. I'm trying to train myself to think big within my limitations, because there are some things I may not be able to execute within the time constraints of an assignment, or with the limited materials I may have available.

All in all, last week's visit made me think more about one of the strongest connections between art and science - the way we approach concepts. Both fields allow people to understand things more deeply, through means that may not be so obvious at first. I hope to keep this approach in mind as I work on my next projects.

Clean Berry

During this adventure at JPL we had a few speakers talk about very interesting components of the visualization of space and the tools that we send there. However, we also visited the clean rooms and I was beyond fascinated. So I began researching it and found multiple articles entailing more details about the new bacteria they found in the rooms themselves.

            To being with, the rooms are highly monitored for outside contaminants and deigned to be cleaned with certain chemicals routinely. In addition, the rooms are kept extremely dry, have negative air pressure, use ultraviolet light and heat to kill bacteria, and the employees that are required to go into the room must wear special suits in order to not further contaminate anything with their mere presence. Everything seems to be working until NASA discovered a new species of berry-shaped microbes during a routine swab sample test.

Tersicoccus (Latin for clean berry) phoenicis, also classified as a new genus, has been found in a Florida branch as well as at the European Space Agency’s facility in Kourou, French Guiana. "This particular bug survives with almost no nutrients," said Parag Vaishampayan, a microbiologist at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.

"We want to have a better understanding of these bugs, because the capabilities that adapt them for surviving in clean rooms might also let them survive on a spacecraft.

“The same bug might be in the soil outside the clean room but we wouldn't necessarily identify it there because it would be hidden by the overwhelming numbers of other bugs." "Tersicoccus phoenicis might be found in some natural environment with extremely low nutrient levels, such as a cave or desert," said Dr Vaishampayan.

            I just think the whole thought of having a huge room where the cleanliness is taken to the most extreme is fascinating. As I was looking at the room, I thought about how the tools and technology would be used and affected. If there were supposedly no dust in that room at all, would the technology last for a very long time because there are no outside forces acting upon it besides plain use? To top off the fascination, the fact that there was a new microbe found in rooms on opposite sides of the globe practically is so unrealistically amazing! I feel like these type of discoveries are just a glimpse into the future when it comes to new findings with more intense technology as well as more in-depth analysis of other planets that we will eventually step foot on.

also cool video of a women preparing and then going into a clean room 

Integratron & Healing Quartz Bowls

After our trip to Joshua Tree and our experiences at the Integratron with the sound bath healing and meditation, I was curious about the correlation between human neurons and the structures of quartz crystals. I remember one of the sisters telling us about how when quartz bowls are played, they activate neurons in the human brain, since quartz work at similar frequencies as our brain neurons. 

So I did a little digging... First of all, Merriam Webster's dictionary defines heal as to make sound or whole. An ironic connection to the sound baths as many people believe them to have healing or rejuvenating qualities with them. So how does sound help balance our autonomic nervous system (ANS) function? When the quartz bowls are played, our hypothalamus and pituitary glands in our brains are vibrated, which in turn optimizes the entire endocrine function in each gland. With the heightened function of the endocrine system, the rest-and-repair branch of the nervous system is naturally heightened which makes our heartbeat slow and our breath deepen and relax. 

Quartz Bowls

Ultimately, we shift into an alpha brain-wave pattern, which refers to brain waves predominantly originating from the occipital lobe while in wakeful relaxation with closed eyes or drowsiness. These alpha brain-waves signal the immune system to release molecules of information – some of travel the nerve pathway through to the brain – ultimately completing the nervous system circuit. More nerve signals are sent through out the body to the glands and organs of the immune system, like the thymus, the small gland located behind the heart responsible to producing T-cells which are critical to the adaptive immune system fighting foreign invaders. Thus assisting in the overall healing process.

So fascinating that just by vibrating 2 glands in the body, you can speed up the healing process in the body incrementally. To think the next time I feel down, I could just rub a stone bowl...

INTEGRATRON

I was hesitant to go to Integratron at first because of the comments about experiences from other people. They described how they saw colors and became very emotional; eventually, some people even ended up crying. I was afraid that I would not be able to handle what I will experience there. I was very nervous and excited at the same time when we went in to the dome. The first thing that fascinated me was the story about the sisters who bought the dome that is in the middle of nowhere. When they first got it, they did not know what they want to do with it. I am really glad that they opened the place for the public so that everyone can get this amazing experience. As we went upstairs, we saw holes at the center of the dome: both on the floor and the roof. When we stood at that spot, we could hear each other's voices very clearly as if we were in each other's heads. Then, we were asked to lay down on the mats. 

As soon as the man started playing the crystal bowls, I closed my eyes to concentrate on the sound. The sound of the bowls travelled across my ears, but I couldn't see any colors. So, I began to concentrate on the sound waves rather than the colors because the man told us to focus on the changes in sound waves/lengths. I was unconscious for a while and then, I gained my conscious again. At that time, I was seeing red blobs surrounded by green colors. I couldn't describe what it was since it was all abstract figures. I couldn't believe what I was seeing and then, I lost my conscious again. I was struggling back and forth between being conscious and unconscious. While I was conscious, I also see the space that is full of sparkle and the next minute, I was in the office space wearing red blouse and white skirt. Then, I was in black and white space with a black figure covering some part of that space. I wanted to know who that was and as the man instructed, I tried to look at the face, but all I saw was a black shadow. After a while, I stopped trying because it was hurting my eyes. After that, I think I fell asleep; the sound of the bowls was stopped and the music was playing when I woke up. I felt like I experienced very stressful and amazing moments and also felt as if I took a long sleep. I googled some images similar to what I saw because it was very hard to describe.

This space above is similar to the space I saw (White background with a black stripe), where a black figure is blocking the right part of the image.

This is the kind of red and green I saw, but not in the same form as this image shown.

These sparkles or glitter background is the most closest to what I saw. It was mesmerising just like this image.

IntegraTRIP

No matter how much I mentally prepared myself, I did not know what to think when coming to the Integratron this past week. It was like going into a sports game, readying my mind for whatever could have come my way. I wish I could be able to even explain why the things that happened, happened, but even I can't understand.

"I'm a New Yorker," she said. Well shoot. If she's a New Yorker and she believes in the powers of the Integratron, this must be crazy. I think something that I thought was really interesting that I learned was about the relations of the quartz to our bodies on a molecular level. In my mind, I pictures a bond between the molecules of quartz in the bowls and the molecules of my own body. Apparently this was supposed to affect my chakra and boy were they right.

Firstly, as I was laying there, the sound of the bowls overtook my ears--this sound was something that I usually feel uncomfortable with because loud consistent noise makes me uneasy; however, no pain, no gain. But that's where it got weird.

Secondly, the man who was playing the bowls played a certain key and that for some reason hit a nerve in me and I started to cry. It seemed to have made a connection between me and some grief that I still have lingering within me. That was bizarre. Mind you, my eyes are closed this whole time and I am seeing colors like I'm flying through space--a medley of purples and yellows. Very strange.

Lastly, I don't ever remember the bowls ending being played. I just woke up startled. My eyes flew open and I realized that the bowls weren't playing anymore and there was calming music playing. Once we all were taken out of our sound bath, I could tell my hearing was more sensitive because I was hearing people talking across the room even more clearly than before the sound bath.

Definitely one of the stranger experiences I've had in my life, but definitely something I would come back to again. It has a kind of addictive quality to it--a type of relaxation I feel that could only come from an experience at a place like that.

Integratron

I’m sitting at my computer trying to come up with an articulate way to describe my experience at the Integratron. Something like that is almost impossible to explain eloquently, so forgive me as most of what I have to say is jumbled.

            I’ll preface by saying I had done something similar to this before. Through Chapman I had gone on a 10-day meditation retreat, frequently do yoga, and have done sound meditation before. So I thought I sort of knew what I was getting myself into.

            BUT. Then we walked into this massive dome in the middle of the desert and this crazy Venus-alien energy takes over and suddenly everything I thought I knew went out the window.

            When he started playing the crystal bowls, I instantly felt like the vibrations were zigzagging back and forth through my brain, moving down my body as he switched to the different bowls. Then for a while, I kept picturing myself spinning around Saturn’s rings to the beat of the bowls (told you hard to articulate…)

            I don’t think I fell asleep, but I have no recognition of when the bowls stopped and when the music started playing. When it was over, and I came to, I found myself shaking; I was almost scared when it was time to leave. It sounds crazy but I actually felt like I went to another world for a little bit and then didn’t know how to adjust when it was time to come back. Without a doubt it was an unbelievable experience, and so special that I got to experience it with such a lovely group of people!

Integratron Amazingness

When I went to the Integratron with our class last weekend I tried to go with an open mind. I was actually really excited about the unknown which typically isn’t how I feel. When we drove up to the gate I was sort of surprised there was no type of civilization around. This building full of experiences that draws large amounts of people is literally in the middle of nowhere. I started thinking about the origins of the building and how it started with a man being visited by aliens from Venus. When our class was told more about the history I was shocked that Howard Hughes funded a random building in the desert with no metal in the framing. I dwelled on that thought for a while only being able to picture a young Leonardo DiCaprio trying to build this huge installations while storing his pee in a number of bottles.

                When we went inside, it was cooler that I expected (temperature wise). We all took off our shoes and left our technology and climbed up the steepest stairs I have ever seen. I was honestly so afraid of falling and dying. However, when I reached the second story it was like a whole other world. The air was somehow thinner than before and the architecture was breathtaking. For some reason I didn’t expect the inside to resemble the shape of the outside structure but it actually took exactly the same shape which I really enjoyed. We all played around for a couple of minutes talking to each other to fully grasp the amazingness involving the acoustics. At one point a student was talking to me and I began to move closer to her in the center of the room and as I did her voice became so apparent that it felt like she was talking in my head. Her speech was as strong as my own personal thoughts. Experiencing that was amazing but also kind of freaky.

                We all began to lay down and prepare for the quartz bowl sound bath and as it began, I was just so amazed at how beautiful the bowls sounded. They were so strong and loud! I cannot stress that enough. The Bowls were SO POWERFUL I felt like they were commanding my attention so much that even if I wanted to think of something else, I couldn’t.  As the sound bath went on, I began seen a tunnel of mostly blue and black but with other random cool colors. Kind of like the movie Contact which I linked below.

:52 and on but I was going backwards and there were more definite stripes of color

here is another tunnel space scene from Interstellar

2:45 and on

As I was going backwards I tried to will my mind to see the tunnel going forwards but I couldn’t change it. I just kept falling backwards. I think I began to go in and out of consciousness because I didn’t notice the change from Quartz bowls to music and then the session was over. When I sat up, my body felt really light, like I had been resting for a really long time. I felt like this somehow related to my chakras. In past and current acting classes at Chapman, we have worked and done exercises involving our chakras so this was such a special experience to share with non-actors.

Reflection on Integratron

Yo, the Integratron was quite an experience. I went in excited yet skeptical, my nature on most topics of the unknown and experiential. It proved to be pretty awesome – I was expecting to drift to sleep but actually had an intense vision (possible dream…who knows) of me screaming at someone for mixing my paint wrong. Not sure if this is good or bad, but hey it was something, that’s for sure.

            The sound bath has been recreated by multiple bloggers and TV/YouTube personalities, most of them making their own mixed tapes and not actually using any type of bowl for sound. Here is a video:

            A part of our trip to Joshua Tree that I really wish we had been able to do was visit Giant Rock, the 7 story rock that’s energy levels coincide with those of the Integratron, as well as having cracks through the earth that balance power as well, if I remember correctly. The idea of having these earthly natures playing into our bodies while we lay in this building is fascinating; the fact that we are physically so out of tune with our environment is a sad and confusing concept to grasp. It is ironic that we have to remove ourselves so much from our everyday lives to reach a place of peace and enlightenment – maybe that says something about society today.

            These are some videos of varying people’s times at Giant Rock (the first video isa group of people playing weird, sound-bathy music and the second video has some actual scholastic merit to it-discussing the history and what-not):

I really enjoyed reading some of the Google and Yelp reviews about other individuals’ journeys after the fact while planning my next trip. For example:

            “THE ALIEN CRYSTAL VISION SEEMS TO LOVE RELIGIONS: TRIGONAL AND HEXAGONAL CIRCLES SECRET OF THE SINGING BOWL-SHAPED UNIVERSE... FROM JAMES MICHAEL AND VIVIANNE CHAPESKIE “

            “Mind kicked in the balls.”

            “Its like being in a catholic church when you're asked to kneel, close your eyes and pray only you are sneaking a peak at who is really doing it and also thinking about where you're going to eat afterwards.”

Imagine Mars

Imagine Mars is a "creative, community-based project that integrates science, technology and the arts". This project is co-sponsored by NASA and the National Endowment for the arts with an extensive list of partners. Imagine Mars caught my attention because it's a STEM-based project that collaborates NASA scientists with students like me. The scientists and engineers work with these students to think critically, problem solve, and execute solutions. They can work face-to-face, through video conferencing, or by the Digital Learning Network. Students as young as kindergarten age can express their creative side by imagining a community on Mars. This process includes brainstorming and developing ideas that would be important for the hypothetical community, like cultural, artistic, and scientific ideals. Then students can invent and share their outcome with the world. For example, one project involved working with local architects to make a sustainable environment. There is no cost for participation, allowing students of all economic class to become involved. According to NASA’s website, Imagine Mars offers “Imagine Mars curriculum, project leader training, mars science training, project planning, connection to NASA scientists and engineers, connection with Museums Alliance network, and materials (Earth/Mars comparison poster, 3D glasses, activity guide, Mars compilation DVD). One can also look at all the projects on NASA’s website to see some of the interesting creations that students are making. A project I saw on the website involved students envisioning the Olympics on Mars. It was presented as a print advertisement campaign. The events were adjusted to fit the Martian terrain and atmosphere and students invented a new Olympic logo. Imagine Mars is an important program for students who might not be able to receive an education and is a great opportunity for students to work closely with scientists. These projects can inspire young minds to become future scientists! Here is the link to all the projects so far: http://mars.nasa.gov/imagine/gallery/all/

How to Land on Mars

Images of Mars in JPL gallery

At our last visit to JPL, it was so amazing to learn about the many discoveries NASA scientists have made relating to Mars. One of the things that fascinated me most was seeing just how far the technology has come over the past 100 years. In the early 20^th century, many people still believed that little green men had built elaborate societies on the red planet. Today, scientists have debunked these myths and are currently analyzing the possibility of finding life on Mars, and the process of investigating Mars is much more complex now than ever before. The first color image of Mars was not a simple photograph. The image was created by using pastels to fill in the various hues based on a number system. Today we are able to see not only color, but textures of the entire surface of Mars as well.

Geospatial information scientist Fred Calef spoke to us at JPL. Calef is essentially a cartographer – he looks at the textures in images of Mars to see how to land and drive safely on Mars. This analysis is essential for the rovers to gather information on Mars. I noticed some similarities between Calef’s research and the principles I have learned in a number of art classes, particularly the use of perspective. Calef uses perspective to get an overall sense of the landscape, and also to determine the size and height of various objects. Unwrapping images of the 3D surface to form a 2D images allows for a clearer view of Mars’ surface. To determine the specific height of objects, he blends the aerial view and side shots of an image, and also looks at shadow length. Just as we use perspective to create realistic images, Calef uses perspective to better see what is already there.

Curiosity landing site

With the help of Calef’s research, the rovers are able to navigate the unfamiliar surface of our neighboring planet, and as a result collect plenty of important data (including evidence of liquid water!). It was so interesting to see how JPL has been able to land so many rovers on Mars and how far technology has come. Who knows what JPL will discover in the next 100 years? Who knows!

Forms in Nature

In conjunction with fractals, where organic forms can be broken into both smaller and larger forms, yet keep their original shape, NASA reminded me of the patterns we can find in nature. At out last visit, we we’re fortunate to meet Doctor Serina Diniega a Planetary Geomorphologist, or in simpler terms a geologist of other planets in space. She explained that through studying and measuring the surfaces of other planets, one can hope to be able to predict and explain why the landscape looks, in this place and in this time, as it does. With this comparative planetology, where Earth is part of a system, or larger pattern, one can find similarities to natural phenomena’s on Earth also found in other planets. Why is this important you may ask? This means that by studying these similarities on Earth and with the data collected by satellites, Dr. Diniega can help NASA determine when it would be best to land on certain planets, the best time of visibility in hard to see areas or even why there are certain wind patterns in the sand.

Dr. Diniega currently is undergoing a project studying the gullies on Mars in hopes of finding signs of water, thus life on Mars. By studying the sand patterns created by wind, Dr. Diniega actually created mathematical equations explaining the migration of sand dunes and the cyclical transference of sand. Besides being super impressed on the fact that she was able to calculate in quantum terms the movement of a sand particle, Dr. Diniega brought up the fascinating reality that patterns that our in space are similarly found on our planet and sometimes even in our own bodies. Mind Blown! Imagine the veins in our bodies, to the veins in a river, to the gullies on mars! Why do these shapes keep reappearing?! Maybe the answer has been there all along and at the end of the day we finally realize…. We are all the same.

Shredding the Gnar!

The coolest thing around town aka dry ice was super exciting to learn about last Friday at JPL! I Was in awe when Serina Diniega started talking about how she did field tests with the dry ice trying to recreate the gullies she was researching on Mar’s South Pole. I also thought that her idea of astronauts snow boarding on mars was a super funny and clever idea. I did some more looking into how that would be possible.

           Diniega’s idea of sand dune snowboarding sounds awesome but I thought I would look into other possible areas of Mars where you could also do a little bit of snowboarding or skiing. In the south pole of mars there is a both a section of ancient ice possibly and a dry ice section. It wouldn't be ideal to try the ice section  because skiing or snowboarding on icy surfaces is a lot harder and requires more skills and really good equipment. Next are the possibly powdery dry ice sections of the South Pole. Some scientists think that there might be snow fall of dry ice during the cold seasons on mars. It would take a lot longer to gain speed while on Mars due to the less amount of gravity compared to Earth. However, the big plus of that though would mean one would be able to catch a lot more air because of this lack of gravity! The last aspect of going down hill on the dry ice section is that when dry ice heats up is starts to sublimate which means it goes straight to gas. That means when going down hill due to the friction of one on the board going down the slope one then create a very small layer of gas or air between you and the CO2 snow below you. This would then make you have less control and possibly make it to unsafe to make it down the slope. So if you don’t have a need for speed, enjoy tricks and flips, and have a thirst for an adrenaline rush then snow boarding or skiing on Mars is the fit for you.  

 Check out how cool this possible Mars dry ice snow might look like. They lack the beautiful structures of earths snow flakes and are about 100x smaller. 

Also how cool would this be if one did something similar to this on Mars but had some dry ice put on the the bottom of the boogie boards! Sign me up!