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Art of STEM home

2020 Runner-ups

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Runner-up, CWRU category. This piece is meant to capture how amazing our minds are. How our brains, simple masses of meat with electricity running through them, are able to store memories, think critically, and grow. Our entire reality is made up of our brain receiving inputs from only 5 senses. And everyone's senses see or hear or feel things a little differently. So we see the apple, we feel the apple, we smell, taste, hear the apple, and from this abstract concept of a thing, we have the power to understand what the apple is, how it tastes , where and how they grow. This image is meant to show this process, from the sense, in this case sight, seeing the apple, to the neurons in the brain lighting up with recognition as it recalls the memories of what the apple is. Although you may think you are the only one feeling some way or experiencing something in a certain way, sometimes it's important to step back and realize you are not the only one. When you look past all the layers on the surface, we are all the same.
Runner-up, CWRU category. Hidden Estrus is a research project exploring the facades of fertility in humans and other mammals. During times of fertility, female felines release pheromones, rhesus monkeys' faces darken, and baboons display exaggerated redness and swelling of the genitalia, known as sexual swellings. Human females, however, conceal ovulation and display limited outward physiological signs that would signal periods of fertility. Without highly explicit markers of ovulation, can other humans detect fertility through invisible biological cues? Supposing the invisible is made visible, the concealed is revealed? What repercussions could this have for human social and sexual interactions?The project catalogs personal daily saliva samples over the duration of a full menstrual cycle. The saliva is then examined under a microscope, and during a short window, displays crystalline salt structures which show a ferning, leaf-like pattern. The ferning pattern indicates an oestrogen surge and an increased chance of conceiving. The image displayed here is a saliva sample taken day 13, which was imaged using a microscope, then digitally drawn and laser etched into racy fluorescent pink plexiglass at the Sears think[box].
Runner-up, CWRU category. For a moment, time stopped, and I was staring into nothingness. A baffling scene such as this with prevailing eerie silence, can make you forget the world around you. All your ego starts melting out, and you start feeling so inferior in front of this mighty nature.What was causing those reflections? Certainly it's water, but it cannot be a river or a sea as it is stagnant. Let me tell you a fact! It was neither a lake. We were in Bonneville Salt Flats! It was supposed to be hundreds of acres of just flat land densely covered with salt and salt alone.My friend took a leap of faith and stepped into the water to find that it was only a couple of inches of water throughout. As she tapped on water, we could see beautiful ripples emerging out. The reason for the presence of water was a snow fall that occurred few days ago. Since the snow melts quickly in the presence of salt, the snow had settled down as water and had created this spectacle. We were lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time.
Runner-up, High School category. For the Art of STEM contest, I chose to take a picture of a plasma ball. A plasma ball by definition is a clear glass container filled with a mixture of various noble gases with a high-voltage electrode in the center of the container. When voltage is applied, a plasma is formed within the container. I chose this subject because whenever I've gone to the science center this was always my favorite exhibit to go and see. I thought this would be a good idea because it combines something that I've always loved and it can be captured in a photograph in many ways. I chose a close up of the plasma ball to really encapsulate to energy inside. I didn't want any negative space to distract the viewers from the main focus. Small exhibits and different attractions can often be overlooked, so I wanted to take this picture so the public could get more in-depth of the subject. The energy that is within the plasma ball is an odd yet satisfying sight to see and because of the high level of detail, there's always something to look at to keep you intrigued.
Runner-up, High School category. This image was taken in my front yard, which faces the Lower Shaker Lake public park. Growing up, I have so many memories with my friends and family in that very park, commonly known as the "duck pond" to Shaker residents. One day, I noticed the last leaf hanging onto the tree, and I figured with the beautiful lights in the background, it would make an amazing photo. I believe that this image represents a shifting of seasons with the representation of the leaf as a focal point, but I also find that it can be interpreted as a nostalgic memory of the Lower Shaker Lake to so many locals and visitors who come to Shaker every year.