Underwater Ant House

The project seeks to design and test and submersible enclosure capable of sustaining oxygen breathing life. A mesh covered in a superhydrophobic coating can both restrain water up to a maximum pressure and retain a direct interface between air and water. Oxygen can transfer over this boundary if there is a sufficient difference in concentrations between the water and air. Multiple designs have been produced with the intent of testing and demonstrating these theories. 3D printing allowed for quick and customizable production of every component. Enclosures were made for testing the maximum allowable pressure and to fit an oxygen sensor. These mostly consisted of a rectangular frame with slotted to fit removable mesh slides. Oxygen concentration experiments were conducted with crickets as live subjects and were designed to analyze the transfer of oxygen through the mesh. The team ran tests to investigate additional factors including coating application and quality, the influence of the mesh substrate material on hydrophobic and coating properties, and mesh sizing influence. Testing indicates that there is sufficient oxygen transfer for small animals to survive. The enclosure can be submerged to approximately four centimeters before failure. This project demonstrates the feasibility of maintaining breathable air using a hydrophobic mesh enclosure and creates the opportunity for further investigation into possible uses of this technology.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/capstone/1212/thumbnail.jp

String Junctions and Non-Simply Connected Gauge Groups

Relations between the global structure of the gauge group in elliptic F-theory compactifications, fractional null string junctions, and the Mordell-Weil lattice of rational sections are discussed. We extend results in the literature, which pertain primarily to rational elliptic surfaces and obtain pi^1(G) where G is the semi-simple part of the gauge group. We show how to obtain the full global structure of the gauge group, including all U(1) factors. Our methods are not restricted to rational elliptic surfaces. We also consider elliptic K3's and K3-fibered Calabi-Yau three-folds.Comment: latex, 34 pages, 8 figure

Defining Art and its Future

Art is a creative phenomenon which changes constantly, not just insofar as it is being created continually, but also in the very meaning of ‘art.’ Finding a suitable definition of art is no easy task and it has been the subject of much inquiry throughout artistic expression. This paper suggests a crucial distinction between ‘art forms’ and ‘forms of art’ is necessary in order to better understand art. The latter of these corresponds to that which we would typically call art such as painting, singing, etc. The former corresponds to the form out of which these take shape, movement, speech, etc. With this distinction set out, it becomes clearer that art and the aesthetic is rooted in the properties of the ‘thing’ such as the color, shape, and the texture, rather than the product of creation itself. Thus, the future of art will bring a new aesthetic in which these properties become recognized as art and as such there will be an aesthetic of everyday life

Russia’s Energy Diplomacy in the Baltic States

Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, or, “The Baltic States,” are unique in that they are the first and only former Soviet Republics to join institutions aligned with the West, joining both the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 2004. This move was a reflection of clashing cultural and political values that had been present before their integration into the Soviet Union during the Second World War as a result of the Soviet-Nazi non-aggression Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. Additionally, after years of Soviet repression, the Baltic States developed a distinctly anti-Russian stance, as Russia was the most dominant country of the Soviet Union and after its dissolution in 1991 (Dudzińska, 2011). In the two decades since the Soviet Union fell and the Baltic States gained their independence, Russia has been asserting both soft and hard power in nearby nations. Additionally, Russia’s energy policy towards their neighbors has significantly affected their relationship with European Union countries through their role as the primary supplier of natural gas

Third Circuit Confusion: NCAA v. Christie and an Opportunity to Defend Federalism

NCAA v. Christie will determine whether a federal statute that prevents a state legislature from repealing a previously enacted state law violates the anti-commandeering doctrine. In 2014, New Jersey passed a state law repealing state prohibitions against sports wagering in Atlantic City. Five sports leagues sued New Jersey in federal court. The leagues asserted that the new state law violated the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (“PASPA”), a federal law. New Jersey claimed PASPA violated the anti-commandeering doctrine and was accordingly unconstitutional. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals held that PASPA does not violate the anti-commandeering doctrine because it does not command states to take affirmative actions, and it does not present a coercive binary choice. New Jersey disagrees. This commentary argues that PASPA, as interpreted by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, does in fact violate the anti-commandeering doctrine established by the Supreme Court and that there is no meaningful difference between forcing a state to pass a law and forcing them to retain one. In both instances, the state’s legislative branch is being commandeered by Congress to advance Congressional policies and purposes. The Supreme Court has found such commandeering unconstitutional in the past and should do so yet again in this instance