We all have plenty to distract us: unread texts, current events, childcare responsibilities, overdue assignments鈥攏ot to mention an overflowing email inbox. When everything becomes overwhelming, it鈥檚 a good time to pause for your mind, body, and soul and gain perspective on the amazing things we often take for granted. We spoke with five 91制片厂 instructors about everyday phenomena from their fields that may be invisible or underappreciated by most people yet are humbling and awe-inspiring to those who truly pay attention.
Professor Deborah Damcott, PhD, teaches physics at 91制片厂, but her background is in nuclear engineering. Thus, her source of wonder is the oft-maligned and misunderstood force of radiation. As a Pennsylvania native, she got interested in radiation after the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor accident in 1979, which turned radiation and nuclear energy into sources of fear and mistrust. But Damcott begs to differ: 鈥淭here have been fewer people injured from nuclear plants than any other energy source. It is an incredibly highly regulated and monitored industry, and a very safe, very reliable form of energy.鈥�
Radiation itself is more helpful than people realize. 鈥淧eople always worry about things like X-rays,鈥� she says, 鈥渂ut you get about eight times more radiation from a cross-country airplane flight than you do from an X-ray at the dentist. And there鈥檚 a radioactive isotope called Potassium-40 in every banana you eat鈥濃�攁 . 鈥淭he fact that you can鈥檛 see it or feel it or taste it, but it鈥檚 always there is intriguing,鈥� says Damcott. 鈥淚t鈥檚 with you 24/7 for your entire life, but you don鈥檛 even know it. And you don鈥檛 know what it鈥檚 doing for you.鈥�
鈥淚 teach classes students are terrified of, let鈥檚 be clear,鈥� says Karen Dailey, PhD, assisted professor of chemistry. 鈥淏ut I do try to explain to them that it鈥檚 accessible.鈥� Her goal is to help her students build 鈥渕olecular vision,鈥� the ability to see that 鈥渋f we can start to understand how things work on the molecular level, we can have control over their properties in the macroscopic world.鈥�
Dailey鈥檚 example: blue jeans, which come from the indigo plant pigment. 鈥淏ut why is it blue? Chemists know it鈥檚 a flat molecule with alternating single and double bonds, and that it absorbs and reflects a certain frequency of visible light. Just by changing the pattern of the bonds within the indigo molecule, we can change the color of it.鈥� Thus, why she is in awe of chemists in general. 鈥淲e work with the molecular world to give us conveniences or perks that manifest macroscopically,鈥� like the billions of blue jeans lining store shelves around the world.
To Kevin Cole, Assistant Professor of Earth Science and Astronomy at 91制片厂, one aspect of Earth science that is so common yet still so fascinating to him is weather. 鈥淚鈥檓 always amazed at weather patterns and how they develop,鈥� he says. In particular, the thunder and lightning that come with storms鈥攁nd the 1.3 billion volts of electricity they create, as found in a study reported on by 鈥攁re to him one of the more awe-inspiring aspects of our planet.
鈥淎 bolt of lightning is as hot as the surface of the sun, but it only lasts for a fraction of a second, and yet it has enough energy that if it hits a tree, it boils the water inside that tree and makes it explode.鈥� That sheer power and unpredictability make storms not just another everyday occurrence but also a thrilling phenomenon right outside your front door.
Associate Professor of Mathematics Karega Cooper, M.S., is fascinated by the concept of infinity. 鈥淓arly mathematicians thought of infinity as something you could capture,鈥� he says. But it turns out that not only can we not fully count infinity, but there are actually different sizes of it. 鈥淭here are the counting numbers: one, two, three, and so on. There is an infinite number of those, which we call aleph-naught. But there is also an infinite number of numbers between zero and one, which we call aleph-one. It鈥檚 not even possible to count all those numbers. It really boggles my mind that there are things we can鈥檛 count.鈥�
His key takeaway: infinity is really big. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just so beyond big that we can鈥檛 even make sense of it.鈥� So, for those who struggle to understand math, abstract or otherwise, take comfort in knowing that even mathematicians do, too.
For a small glimpse at the wonders of astronomy, all you have to do is keep your eyes open on 91制片厂鈥檚 campus. According to Bhasker Moorthy, professor of astronomy, the Avante Center was designed to take advantage of the sunlight, especially around the fall and spring equinox when the Chicagohenge phenomenon, as shown in , is most evident and alternating bands of light and shadow decorate the concourse floor.
The design has practical effects, too. 鈥淭he horizontal metal plates outside the building allow the low winter Sun to shine through while blocking the high summer Sun, making the concourse warm and bright during the winter and cool and shady during the summer,鈥� says Moorthy. Few things feel more routine than the Sun rising and setting every day, but Moorthy encourages you to let your mind wonder. 鈥淭here is much more you can discover by watching the Sun鈥檚 changing path across the sky, including Earth鈥檚 elliptical orbit around the sun.鈥�
We all have our own daily grind, which is necessary to meet our needs and create the life we desire. However, don鈥檛 forget to take a moment to appreciate the small things and cultivate curiosity about the hidden wonders around you.
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Originally Published Apr 18, 2024