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Sky’s the Limit: James Bond and the Future of Jet Pack Technology

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By Bianca Longlisci, C2ST Intern, Loyola University

What if humans could fly? It’s a question almost every person has asked themselves, but it seems like the answer to it may no longer be something left for science fiction to decide. After a recent visit to the Museum of Science and Industry’s new 007 Science exhibit, I became fascinated by a unique technology that theoretically allows humans to soar through the air– jet packs. Jetpacks appear in several blockbusters like Star Wars and Asteroid City, but what is unique about the jetpack in the 1965 Bond film Thunderball is that it is fully functional in real life. How do jetpacks work, and are they still only free to be used by fictional super spies?

The jet pack used in Thunderball is known as the Bell Rocket Belt and is considered to be the first functional jetpack. It uses nitrogen to push hydrogen peroxide into a small chamber. Inside, a reaction occurs that produces a burst of steam, propelling the wearer into the air. It sounds simple, but the Rocket Belt cost roughly $200,000 to create (almost $2 million in today’s money) and could only keep a person in the air for 20 seconds before running out of fuel. The high input cost combined with such a short flight time are the main reasons why the Rocket Belt never really “took off” as a product.

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Beneath the Surface: Unveiling the Ocean’s Secrets with Sonar Technology

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By Bianca Loglisci, C2ST Intern, Loyola University

Even though the ocean makes up 70% of our planet’s surface, most of it remains unexplored. With depths of up to 12,000 feet and a total surface area of 139 million square miles, the global ocean is truly enormous and may hold mysteries beyond human comprehension. I have always been fascinated by the mysteries of the ocean, but after a recent visit to the Field Museum’s new Unseen Oceans exhibit, I started to wonder what methods scientists are using to uncover these mysteries. Thanks to satellite imaging, we have a rough idea of what the ocean floor looks like, however, specific objects like shipwrecks and certain geographic formations are unable to be detected in this way. Scientists have precisely mapped the ocean floor with a scientific technique that utilizes sonar technology, which can help to create a much clearer picture of what lies beneath the surface.

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Tornado Terrain: Why is the US a Twister Hotspot?

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By Danielle Rodriguez, C2ST Intern, Waubonsee Community College

On a warm February night not too long ago, tornado storms swept through my college campus and hit surrounding towns. It was unusual to experience such a storm during a usually calm winter month. When I arrived at class the day after the storm, I saw uprooted trees, light poles completely knocked down, and traffic signs scattered. I began to wonder about how tornadoes form and why the United States experiences so many of them.

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Navigating the Storm: Understanding El Niño’s Role in Midwest Weather

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By Bianca Loglisci, C2ST Intern, Loyola University

If you live in the Midwest, you may have noticed that the weather has been all over the place lately. From 70-degree days in mid-February to 20-degree days at the end of March, the fluctuating seasons may seem frustratingly unexplainable. Part of an explanation for this wacky weather falls to a natural phenomenon called El Niño.

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Blood Sugar: How it Works and Why it’s Important

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By Vivienne Couris, C2ST Intern, DePaul University

The terms “blood sugar” and “insulin” are thrown around quite a bit in our world. You may have heard them mentioned in relation to certain diseases and foods, or maybe you’ve heard about how they can spike or drop. In this post, we’ll discuss what these two molecules are and what they’re responsible for in your body. We’ll also dive into how they interact with each other and work together to keep you healthy and feeling your best.
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The Dynamics of DNA: How Scientists are Translating Genes into Symphonies

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By Danielle Rodriguez, C2ST Intern, Waubonsee Community College

The beat of your heart, the grumbling of your stomach, the whisper of air traveling in and out of your nose – these are all processes of the human body that we can feel and hear. But what about the processes in our body that go unheard? What about the traits that transpire before we even take our first breath; the ones that determine if our hair is curly or straight, our eyes brown or blue? These traits are determined by our DNA sequences, and scientists are creating ways to find patterns in these sequences by translating them into music.

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