This paper addresses many of the problems that will be encountered when travelling to Mars and discusses the possibility of different solutions. Protection from radiation, oxygen production, and water sources are some of the major problems and the solution to these problems are vital for the success of future space travel. By utilizing technology that has already been used in space travel and implementing the use of technology that is successful on Earth, humans will be able to live on Mars successfully.

A one-way function (OWF) is a function that is computationally feasible to compute in one direction, but infeasible to invert. Many current cryptosystems make use of properties of OWFs to provide ways to send secure messages. This paper reviews some simple OWFs and examines their use in contemporary cryptosystems and other cryptographic applications. This paper also discusses the broader implications of OWF-based cryptography, including its relevance to fields such as complexity theory and quantum computing, and considers the importance of OWFs in future cryptographic development

As technology and legislation advances, small unmanned aerial systems (SUAS), better known as drones, have begun to become an integral part of emergency services. Large departments such as the New York City fire department and the National Park Service have implemented very successful programs. However, many departments are still not using them despite this uptick in usage. In order to improve accessibility of this technology, I set out to perform field research and develop a series of public service announcement videos combined with standard operating procedures (SOPs) in order to create a model that can help departments start their own SUAS programs. Through hours of fieldwork, I was able to develop policies and procedures that I then laid out in various videos and SOPs, all with the intention of improving accessibility to this technology. The benefits of SUAS are numerous and can greatly improve patient outcomes as well as improve first responder safety. Through my research, I created a strong foundation for any department no matter the size or location to be able to start their own program with relative ease.

In the last 100 years, humans have grown increasingly dependent on synthetic plastic products. Companies have taken advantage of the low cost and convenience that plastics provide. However, the rise in plastic consumption has had unforeseen consequences. Due to plastic’s resistance to biodegradation the hazardous material has accumulated in the environment. While few plastics are recycled and placed in landfills, the majority of this waste will accumulate in the oceans where it threatens the health of marine wildlife. Ocean organisms often become entangled or consume plastic waste; in the majority of these cases death is inevitable. The consumption of plastics causes contamination throughout all marine trophic levels. Plastic toxins bio-accumulate in tissues. The toxins concentrate as they move up the trophic levels and harm life processes of marine organisms. A vital step in combating plastic pollution is educating the public. Children, in particular, need to understand the negative implications of plastic pollution because they will experience the consequences. The goal of this project is to spread awareness of plastic pollution to young children in an entertaining and emotional way. There are several approaches to publishing a successful children’s book; the story should be captivating, reliable, with a compelling story that the reader may relate too. For this project, three well-structured children’s books were examined for inspiration. A children’s book was then constructed to inform children of ocean plastic pollution.

This thesis seeks to examine shortcomings in space law by focusing on two interconnected aspects: privatization and space debris. The aspects of privatization and space debris will be examined under the context of the Outer Space Treaty (OST) and other relevant legal instruments. Privatization and space debris are two current challenges that the OST fails to regulate efficiently. While the OST was being drafted, the international community did not foresee problems such as privatization and space debris. This is significant because we are witnessing an increase in privatization of space activities and corporations as well as a massive accumulation of dangerous space debris. While the OST grants states the power to regulate private space companies and the accretion of space debris, national laws rarely align with the OST, leading to the abuse of international space laws. We will make recommendations at the end of the thesis in an effort to revise the use of soft language in the OST to attune national laws with international laws as well as address the growing ambiguity surrounding privatization and space debris.

This creative project is a portfolio of accessible science communication. It consists of three multimedia texts, each one written and designed for a different audience about a different topic. The first project is an article/report about the recent launch delays and cost increases for the James Webb Space Telescope, written for adults in their 40s-50s. The second project is a children’s picture book about Einstein’s theory of general relativity, written for homeschoolers in 6th grade. The third project is an educational animated video about the difference between gravity waves and gravitational waves, written for students in 7th grade.

Normally, the United States and most of Europe are grouped into the same category as “Western countries”, yet their ideological differences have become larger in the last 50 years, especially in regards to free speech/expression protections. This raises the possibility that extremely broad free speech/expression protections aren’t intrinsic values of a Western society, but are instead an American experiment that was gradually adopted by Western Europe. Analyzing historical documents from both Europe and the United States, this becomes much more of a probability than a possibility and would help explain the recent differences in case law regarding free speech rights in American and European jurisprudence. Furthermore, Europe is also experiencing a potential threat to social stability in the form of massive, sudden demographic shifts, something that America has not experienced on nearly the same scale. Due to the heightened sensitivity towards hateful expression resulting from such a demographic shift, governmental action in the form of restrictions on racially, religiously, and ethnically charged forms of expressions may be deemed necessary in order to preserve social cohesion. Often throughout history, governments have deemed it necessary to limit free expression/speech and the spread of information in order to prevent any threat to its ability to rule, regardless of whether or not said government is tyrannical or democratized. Although not a direct threat to power, in a representative democracy social unrest created by increased division in the populace rooted in the spread of hateful ideology is nonetheless still a threat to those who depend on social harmony in order to govern in a representative democracy. In analyzing these two possible reasons for emerging differences and considering supporting textual and historical evidence, it becomes much clearer as to what the differences in case law and fundamental beliefs regarding the extent of free speech protections are attributable to.

This thesis surveys and analyzes applications of machine learning techniques to the fields of animation and computer graphics. Data-driven techniques utilizing machine learning have in recent years been successfully applied to many subfields of animation and computer graphics. These include, but are not limited to, fluid dynamics, kinematics, and character modeling. I argue that such applications offer significant advantages which will be pivotal in advancing the fields of animation and computer graphics. Further, I argue these advantages are especially relevant in real-time implementations when working with finite computational resources.

Einstein's theory of special relativity has been used by accomplished science fiction authors since its discovery in 1905, allowing intrepid adventurers to reach far away worlds without having to fear time's passage. By traveling near light speed, these fictional travelers experience a different passage of time as the universe ensures the commonality of the speed of light in all reference frames. In the here and now, this method of travel has been proposed to assist in interstellar and interplanetary exploration. This paper will investigate the practicality of this method of travel by proposing a mission utilizing a craft with this type of velocity.

This study focused on the connection between the EnvZ/OmpR two-component regulatory system and the iron homeostasis system in Escherichia coli, specifically how a mutant form of EnvZ11/OmpR is able to reduce the expression of fepA::lacZ, a reporter gene fusion in E. coli. FepA is one of several outer membrane siderophore receptors that allow extracellular siderophores bound to iron to enter the cells to power various biological processes. Previous studies have shown that in E. coli cells that expressed a mutant allele of envZ, called envZ11, which led to altered expression of various iron genes including down regulation of fepA::lacZ. The wild type EnvZ/OmpR system is not considered to regulate iron genes, but because these envz11 strains had downregulated fepA::lacZ, this study was undertaken to understand the connection and mechanisms of this downregulation. A large number of Lac+ revertants were obtained from the B32-2483 strain (envz11 and fepA::lacZ) and 7 Lac+ revertants that had reversion mutations not directly correcting the envZ11 allele were further characterized. With P1 phage transduction genetic mapping that involved moving a kanamycin resistance marker linked to fepA::lacZ, two Lac+ revertants were found to have their reversion mutations in the fepA promoter region, while the other five revertants had their mutations mapping outside the fepA region. These two revertants underwent DNA sequencing and found to carry two different single base pair mutations in two different locations of the fepA promoter region. Each one is in the Fur repressor binding region, but one also may have affected the Shine-Dalgarno region involved in translation initiation. All 7 reveratants underwent beta-galactosidase assays to measure fepA::lacZ expression. The two revertants that had mutations in the fepA promoter region had significantly increased fepA activity, with the revertant with the Shine-Dalgarno mutation having the most elevated fepA expression. The other 5 revertants that did not map in the fepA region had fepA expression elevated to the same level as that found in the wild type EnvZ/OmpR background. The data suggest that the negative effect of envZ11 can be overcome by multiple mechanisms, including directly correcting the envZ11 allele or changing the fepA promoter region.