Designing the Future of Amateur Astronomy: 3D Printed Telescopes

This research delves into the symbiotic relationship between engineering and astronomy through the reengineering of telescopes, emphasizing user-friendly design and cost-effectiveness. Focused on a 8-inch primary mirror and a 1.75-inch secondary mirror, our objective is to streamline the telescope\u27s functionality for the benefit of engineering and astronomy students. Employing a systematic engineering design process, we are currently designing the telescope to be 3D printed with PLA filament, eventually culminating in a collapsible telescope structure. It will be supported by aluminum extrusion and secured with hexagonal endcaps. This design ensures easy handling and facilitates cost-effective production, with spare parts readily reproducible. The outcome integrates principles from astronomy, physics, and engineering, serving as an innovative educational tool and creates more accessibility for students outside of the field who are financially disadvantaged. By combining accessibility, performance, and affordability, our telescope design aims to enhance the interdisciplinary collaboration between these fields while providing an exemplary model for cost-effective engineering projects for students outside of the university

Project Minerva

Project Minerva is a project focused on education in engineering processes targeted towards undergraduates. Project Minerva will accomplish the goal of educating students at Embry-Riddle through completing the entire engineering design cycle so that students gain experience in every part of an engineering project. Project Minerva will produce a weather balloon with a payload resembling a 2U CubeSat which will measure atmospheric properties as altitude increases. The main property being measured is the amount of ultraviolet (UV) rays that are present in the atmosphere, which will then be used to calculate the amount of ozone present in the atmosphere. The payload will also feature a student-designed solar panel as its main source of power generation

Genetic and environmental influences on optimism and its relationship to mental and self-rated health: A study of aging twins

Optimism has been shown to be important in maintaining wellbeing into old age, but little is known about the sources of variation in optimism and its links to mental and somatic health. Optimism, mental, and self-rated health were measured in 3,053 twin individuals (501 MZF, 153 MZM, 274 DZF, 77 DZM, and 242 DZ opposite-sex twin pairs and 561 single twins) over 50 years using the life orientation test, the General Health Questionnaire and a single-item question for self-rated health. Additive genetic factors explained 36, 34, and 46% of the variation in optimism, mental, and self-rated health, respectively, with the remainder being due to non-shared environmental influences. Genetic influences accounted for most of the covariance between the variables (14-20% of the genetic variance) indicating that in older adults genes predisposing to high optimism also predispose to good mental health and self-rated health